sub load {
    my $class = shift;
    return $class->set_error( "called as instance method")    if ref $class;
    return $class->set_error( "Too many arguments provided to load()")  if @_ > 5;

    my $self = bless {
        _DATA       => {
            _SESSION_ID     => undef,
            _SESSION_CTIME  => undef,
            _SESSION_ATIME  => undef,
            _SESSION_REMOTE_ADDR => $ENV{REMOTE_ADDR} || "",
            #
            # Following two attributes may not exist in every single session, and declaring
            # them now will force these to get serialized into database, wasting space. But they
            # are here to remind the coder of their purpose
            #
#            _SESSION_ETIME  => undef,
#            _SESSION_EXPIRE_LIST => {}
        },          # session data
        _DSN        => {},          # parsed DSN params
        _OBJECTS    => {},          # keeps necessary objects
        _DRIVER_ARGS=> {},          # arguments to be passed to driver
        _CLAIMED_ID => undef,       # id **claimed** by client
        _STATUS     => STATUS_UNSET,# status of the session object
        _QUERY      => undef        # query object
    }, $class;