title: Undefined method 'strftime' for nil:NilClass When value is not nil
body: <p>I've got an odd error with displaying times in Rails</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;%= Time.zone.parse(e["start_time"])%&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Displays a full time stamp string. "2010-09-02 18:00:00 -0500"</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;%= Time.zone.parse(e["start_time"]).strftime()%&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Shows the expected error that I have (0 of 1) arguments supplied. Again, expected.</p>
  
  <pre><code>&lt;%= Time.zone.parse(e["start_time"]).strftime("%Y")%&gt;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Shows an error "Undefined method 'strftime' for nil:NilClass".</p>
  
  <p>So my e["start_time"] field <em>is</em> populated, but I can't figure out why specifying the argument that strftime() wants results in a Nil value.</p>