private LocalDate objectAsSqlDatetoLocalDate(Object obj) {

    if (obj == null) return null;
    try {
      if (obj instanceof java.sql.Date) {
        return ((java.sql.Date) obj).toLocalDate();
      } else {
        logger.error("object type seems to be incorrect. expected type java.sql.date but provided {} (value {})", obj.getClass(), obj.toString());
      }
      return null;
    } catch (Exception e) {
      logger.error("unable to convert java.sql.Date object to LocalDate type. (value {})", obj.toString());
      return null;
    }
  }