my $DB = ref_to_db();

#at this point it's all good. i can call prepare like
# $$DB->prepare(qq| etc etc etc....

#this would be fine too
closenow(\$$DB);

#now...
# $DB is a reference to an open DB connection, 
# how do it reference to it in a hash, pass a reference
# to the hash to a sub, then dereference to the DB ???!!!
my %Booga - (DB => \$$DB );

closeplease(\%Booga);

sub ref_to_db {
 my $DB = DBI->connect("DBI:mysql:dat...... etc etc 
 return \$DB;
}

sub closenow {
 $_[0]->disconnect;
}

sub closeplease {
 my $Booga = $_[0];

 #im at a loss here, is this way off?
 $$Booga{DB}->disconnect;

}