while(1)
	{
		print "\nEnter the day number you are interested in: ";
		chomp($sol_request=<STDIN>);
	
		#append 0 to the front 
		if($day_request < 100 && $day_request !~/0[0-9][0-9]/)
		{
			$sol_request = "0".$day_request;
		}
		
		if(not -d "/somedir/$day_request/")
		{
			print "\nSol $day_request does not exist! Please try again\n";
		}
		else
		{
			last;
		}
	}