I think the best answer here is "design choice".

i'm not worried about packaging any of the Test::* modules with the "distribution", because there won't be a distribution. the code i'm writing now is application-specific.

for added testing, I've already installed Test::Pod::Coverage and Test::Exception. i'm trying (and some days i wonder why) to get this code to look as much like something that could be publically distributed, even though i can't imagine why this app-specfic code would make it off the server. it's a learning experience ... writing more POD, making sure that the modules/classes have better-than-adequate documentation and tests ... so that the the next developer that comes along (even if it is me 6 months from now) can make sense out of the code and NOT have to learn by reverse engineering it ...