_time_parse_helper() {
  if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Usage: <date>"
    exit 1
  fi

  echo $1

  if [[ "$(echo $1 | sed 's/\"//g' | sed 's/,//')" =~ ^([0-9]{1,2})[[:space:]]+(.+)[[:space:]]+([0-9]{4})$ ]]; then 
    _time_parse_ddmonyyyy "$1"
  elif [[ "$(echo $1 | sed 's/\"//g' | sed 's/,//')" =~ ^(.+)[[:space:]]+([0-9]{1,2})[[:space:]]+([0-9]{4})$ ]]; then
    _time_parse_monddyyyy "$1"
  else 
    echo "COULD NOT FIGURE OUT DATE FORMAT!"
    return 1
  fi
}

_time_parse_monddyyyy() {
  if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Usage: <date in mon dd yyyy>"
    exit 1
  fi

  ITEM_MONTH_WORD=$(echo "$1" | sed -E 's/^([A-Za-z]+) .*/\1/' | sed 's/^[ \t]*//;s/[ \t]*$//')
  ITEM_DAY_SHORT=$(echo "$1" | sed -E 's/^[A-Za-z]+ ([0-9]+),.*/\1/' | sed 's/^[ \t]*//;s/[ \t]*$//')
  ITEM_DAY=$(printf "%02d" $ITEM_DAY_SHORT)
  ITEM_YEAR=$(echo "$1" | sed -E 's/^[A-Za-z]+ [0-9]+, ([0-9]+).*/\1/' | sed 's/^[ \t]*//;s/[ \t]*$//')
  case "$ITEM_MONTH_WORD" in
    Jan*)  ITEM_MONTH="01" ;;
    Feb*)  ITEM_MONTH="02" ;;
    Mar*)  ITEM_MONTH="03" ;;
    Apr*)  ITEM_MONTH="04" ;;
    May)   ITEM_MONTH="05" ;;
    Jun*)  ITEM_MONTH="06" ;;
    Jul*)  ITEM_MONTH="07" ;;
    Aug*)  ITEM_MONTH="08" ;;
    Sep*)  ITEM_MONTH="09" ;;
    Oct*)  ITEM_MONTH="10" ;;
    Nov*)  ITEM_MONTH="11" ;;
    Dec*)  ITEM_MONTH="12" ;;
    *)     ITEM_MONTH="--" ;;
  esac
}

_time_parse_ddmonyyyy() {   
  if [ "$#" -eq 0 ]; then
    echo "Usage: <date in dd mon yyyy>"
    exit 1
  fi
   
  ITEM_MONTH_WORD=$(echo "$1" | sed 's/^[^ ]* //' | sed 's/ .*//')
  ITEM_DAY_SHORT=$(echo "$1" | sed 's/ .*//')
  ITEM_DAY=$(printf "%02d" $ITEM_DAY_SHORT)
  ITEM_YEAR=$(echo "$1" | sed 's/.* //')
  case "$ITEM_MONTH_WORD" in
    Jan*)  ITEM_MONTH="01" ;;
    Feb*)  ITEM_MONTH="02" ;;
    Mar*)  ITEM_MONTH="03" ;;
    Apr*)  ITEM_MONTH="04" ;;
    May)   ITEM_MONTH="05" ;;
    Jun*)  ITEM_MONTH="06" ;;
    Jul*)  ITEM_MONTH="07" ;;
    Aug*)  ITEM_MONTH="08" ;;
    Sep*)  ITEM_MONTH="09" ;;
    Oct*)  ITEM_MONTH="10" ;;
    Nov*)  ITEM_MONTH="11" ;;
    Dec*)  ITEM_MONTH="12" ;;
    *)     ITEM_MONTH="--" ;;
  esac
}