diff --git a/README b/README
index de9d5d4..5b4af98 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -12,6 +12,16 @@ and set in ~/.bashrc:
   export HISTCONTROL="ignoreboth"
 
 
+== USAGE
+See the --help also,
+  Usage: bash_history [options]
+        --inspect                    inspect the data
+    -l, --list                       list history
+        --fix                        fix times
+    -f, --find PAT                   find a command with pattern PAT
+
+
+
 == LICENSE
 Copyright (c) 2012  Vincent Batts, Raleigh, NC, USA
 
diff --git a/bash_history.rb b/bash_history.rb
index 2872a12..ec5bd87 100755
--- a/bash_history.rb
+++ b/bash_history.rb
@@ -7,8 +7,9 @@ require 'yaml'
 class BashHistory
   attr_reader :db
   OPTIONS = {
-    :file => File.expand_path("~/.bash_history"),
-    :archive_file => File.expand_path("~/.bash_history.db"),
+    :file          => File.expand_path("~/.bash_history"),
+    :archive_file  => File.expand_path("~/.bash_history.db"),
+    :time_format   => "%F %T",
   }
   def initialize(opts = {})
     @options = OPTIONS.merge(opts)
@@ -20,13 +21,15 @@ class BashHistory
   def keys; db.keys; end
   def keys_to_i; keys.map {|i| i.to_i }; end
   def values; db.map {|k,v| _yl(v) }; end
+  def values_by_time; db.map {|k,v| _yl(v) }.sort_by {|x| x[:time] } ; end
   def commands; values.map {|v| v[:cmd] }; end
   def _yd(data); YAML.dump(data); end
   def _yl(data); YAML.load(data); end
   def _md5(data); Digest::MD5.hexdigest(data); end
+  def _f(v); " %s %s" % [v[:time].strftime(@options[:time_format]), v[:cmd]]; end
 
   def find(pat)
-    values.select {|v| v if v =~ /#{pat}/ }
+    values.select {|v| v if v[:cmd] =~ /#{pat}/ }
   end
 
   def _parse
@@ -36,7 +39,7 @@ class BashHistory
           l = f.readline.chomp
           db[_md5(l)] = _yd({:cmd => l, :time => Time.at($1.to_i)})
         else
-          db[_md5(line.chomp)] = _yd({:cmd => line.chomp})
+          db[_md5(line.chomp)] = _yd({:cmd => line.chomp, :time => Time.at(0) })
         end
       end
     end
@@ -44,7 +47,7 @@ class BashHistory
   def render(file)
     File.open(file,'w+') do |f|
       values.each do |v|
-        f.write("#" + v[:time].to_i.to_s + "\n") if v[:time]
+        f.write("#" + v[:time].to_i.to_s + "\n") if v[:time] and not (v[:time].to_i == 0)
         f.write(v[:cmd] + "\n")
       end
     end
@@ -52,8 +55,48 @@ class BashHistory
 end
 
 if $0 == __FILE__
+  require 'optparse'
+  options = {}
+  OptionParser.new do |opts|
+    opts.on('--inspect','inspect the data') do |o|
+      options[:inspect] = o
+    end
+    opts.on('-l','--list','list history') do |o|
+      options[:list] = o
+    end
+    opts.on('--fix','fix times') do |o|
+      options[:fix] = o
+    end
+    opts.on('-f','--find PAT','find a command with pattern PAT') do |o|
+      options[:find] = o
+    end
+  end.parse!(ARGV)
+
   bh = BashHistory.new
-  p bh
-  p "storing #{bh.keys.count} commands"
+  if options[:inspect]
+    p bh
+    p "storing #{bh.keys.count} commands"
+  end
+  if options[:fix]
+    count = 0
+    bh.db.each_pair do |k,v|
+      yv = bh._yl(v)
+      if yv[:time].nil?
+        yv[:time] = Time.at(0)
+        bh.db[k] = bh._yd(yv)
+        count += 1
+      end
+    end
+    puts "fixed [#{count}] times values"
+  end
+  if options[:find]
+    bh.find(options[:find]).sort_by {|x| x[:time]}.each do |val|
+      puts bh._f(val)
+    end
+  elsif options[:list]
+    bh.values_by_time.each do |val|
+      puts bh._f(val)
+    end
+  end
 end