Thanks for the help guys...I've learned a ton with this project. The most important thing: Don't reinvent the wheel. I went witht the Whois.pm module and my format is very pretty and I'll be able to hand the info. over in time. I had one of the strong perl guys here at work patch the module for me so it gives the expiration date for the domain. He sent it off to the person who maintains that module, so that patch may be included in a later version.
I felt like I was so close and wanted to finish it without the module's help. Didn't get me too far...Thanks again, and I've learned a few things from your feedback.
BTW -- can anyone recommend a general programming logic book? I sure could use one.
Matt