diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index c012f47..b1d8282 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -79,3 +79,7 @@ clean:
 	rmdir $(OBJDIR)
 	rmdir $(BINDIR)
 
+.PHONY : test
+test:
+	./test/pit_test.rb
+	rm -f ./test/.pitfile
diff --git a/src/args.c b/src/args.c
index b8e6b68..962ae24 100644
--- a/src/args.c
+++ b/src/args.c
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ time_t pit_arg_date(char **arg, char *required)
                     strcpy(format, "%m/%d/%Y %H:%M");                   /* 10/10/1992 19:30 */
                 }
             } else {
-                if (strlen(*arg) > 12) {
+                if (strlen(*arg) >= 12) {
                     if (alpha_date) {
                         strcpy(format, "%b %d, %Y %H");                 /* Oct 10, 1992 19 */
                     } else {
diff --git a/src/db.c b/src/db.c
index 8dd2587..5425b29 100644
--- a/src/db.c
+++ b/src/db.c
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@ static char *pit_file_name()
     static char file_name[128];
 
     if (!*file_name) {
-        strcpy(file_name, expand_path(PITFILE, file_name));
+        char *penv = getenv("PITFILE");
+        strcpy(file_name, expand_path(penv ? penv : PITFILE, file_name));
     }
 
     return file_name;
diff --git a/test/should.rb b/test/pit_should.rb
similarity index 72%
rename from test/should.rb
rename to test/pit_should.rb
index 0cf0334..b7385df 100644
--- a/test/should.rb
+++ b/test/pit_should.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 class Hand < RuntimeError
   def oops(msg)
-    puts "\n#{msg} in #{self.backtrace[-1].sub(':', ' line ')}"
+    puts "\n#{msg} in #{self.backtrace[1].sub(':', ' line ')}"
   end
 end
 
@@ -42,17 +42,18 @@ class String
   end
 end
 
-"123".should.equal "123"
-"123".should.equal "321"
+if $0 == __FILE__
+  "123".should.equal "123"
+  "123".should.equal "321"
 
-"123".should_not.equal "321"
-"123".should_not.equal "123"
+  "123".should_not.equal "321"
+  "123".should_not.equal "123"
 
-"abc".should.match /B/i
-"abc".should.match /xyz/
-
-"abc".should_not.match /xyz/
-"abc".should_not.match /abc/
+  "abc".should.match /B/i
+  "abc".should.match /xyz/
 
+  "abc".should_not.match /xyz/
+  "abc".should_not.match /abc/
+end
 
 
diff --git a/test/pit_test.rb b/test/pit_test.rb
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..95933f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pit_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env ruby
+#
+BASE = File.dirname(File.expand_path(__FILE__))
+require "#{BASE}/pit_should"
+
+class PitTestRunner
+  def self.run
+    runner = self.new
+    runner.public_methods.grep(/^should_/).each do |method|
+      runner.send(:before) if runner.respond_to?(:before)
+      runner.send(method)
+      runner.send(:after) if runner.respond_to?(:after)
+    end
+    puts
+  end
+
+  def initialize
+    @pit = "#{BASE.sub(/test$/, 'bin')}/pit"
+    if File.executable?(@pit)
+      ENV['PITFILE'] = "#{BASE}/test.pitfile"
+      puts "Testing #{@pit} with #{ENV['PITFILE']}"
+    else
+      raise("\nCould not run #{@pit}") 
+    end
+  end
+
+  def before
+    `#{@pit} init -f`
+    `#{@pit} project -c test`
+  end
+
+  def should_parse_alpha_dates
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "dec 1, 2011 19:30"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, 2011 19:30/m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "dec 1, 2012 1:15pm"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, 2012 13:15/m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "dec 1, 2013 11"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, 2013 11:00/m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "dec 1, 2013 7pm"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, 2013 19:00/m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "dec 1, 2013"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, 2013      /m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "dec 1 5:55"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, #{Time.now.year} 05:55/m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "dec 1 2:40pm"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, #{Time.now.year} 14:40/m
+    # `#{@pit} task -c test -d "dec 1 5"`
+    # `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, #{Time.now.year} 05:00/m
+    # `#{@pit} task -c test -d "dec 1 3pm"`
+    # `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, #{Time.now.year} 15:00/m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "dec 1"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, #{Time.now.year}      /m
+  end
+
+  def should_parse_slash_dates
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "12/1/2011 19:30"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, 2011 19:30/m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "12/1/2012 1:15pm"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, 2012 13:15/m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "12/1/2013 11"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, 2013 11:00/m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "12/1/2013 7pm"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, 2013 19:00/m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "12/1/2013"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, 2013      /m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "12/1 5:55"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, #{Time.now.year} 05:55/m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "12/1 2:40pm"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, #{Time.now.year} 14:40/m
+    # `#{@pit} task -c test -d "12/1 5"`
+    # `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, #{Time.now.year} 05:00/m
+    # `#{@pit} task -c test -d "12/1 3pm"`
+    # `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, #{Time.now.year} 15:00/m
+    `#{@pit} task -c test -d "12/1"`
+    `#{@pit} task`.should.match /Dec 01, #{Time.now.year}      /m
+  end
+
+end
+
+PitTestRunner.run
diff --git a/test/test.pitfile b/test/test.pitfile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..50e686d
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/test.pitfile differ