Question: if you had to store the current javascript datetime in a string what would it look like and could you convert it back to a datetime for javascript to read?

What I am trying is not working given the current xml string of `Tue Dec 23 12:02:08 EST 2014`

```
var xmlImagePath = $(this).find('pathName').text();

var xmlStartTime = $(this).find('startTime').text();
xmlStartTime = new Date(xmlStartTime);

var fortnightAway = new Date(xmlStartTime);
var numberOfDaysToAdd = 14;
fortnightAway.setDate(fortnightAway.getDate() + numberOfDaysToAdd);

if (fortnightAway < xmlStartTime) {
    alert("here");
}

```

I do not believe `xmlStartTime = new Date(xmlStartTime);` is setting the xmlStartTime to a datetime object..

Also, What is the correct format to store the datetime into the xml so that it is easier to test later?

Answer: 
One easy way to serialize dates is to use `JSON.stringify` and `JSON.parse`:

```
var serialized = JSON.stringify(new Date());

var deserialized = new Date(JSON.parse(serialized));

```

If you don't have the `JSON` object available, you can do this, which is essentially the same, but with less nested code:

```
var iso = (new Date()).toISOString();

var dateObj = new Date(iso);

```

And if you don't have `.toISOString` (IE 8 or earlier), there is a polyfill [here](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Date/toISOString).
Have a look at [moment.js](http://momentjs.com/) library. If you are able to use an external library, this one will save you many headaches dealing with times in javascript. I have a fiddle that demonstrates many possibilities, and I added your example to the end of the list in this fiddle:

<http://jsfiddle.net/JamesWClark/9PAFg/>

For example, `moment('Tue Dec 23 12:02:08 EST 2014').format()` will output 2014-12-23T11:02:08-06:00 from which you should easily be able to create a DateTime object.

Using an example from your code, you might try this:

```
var xmlStartTime = moment($(this).find('startTime').text());
xmlStartTime = new Date(xmlStartTime);

```