It seems odd since there are only 2 columns, but the second column actually stores multiple values as delimited text which is parsed by the session module when the session is restored.
thing with CGI::Session.. that it's nice for single pairs, but what i want.. is some hash and array play.. storing a list in session, for example. apache::session seems to do that kind of thing.. so many people put work into it! i feel like a moron not using it. i'll have to try again sometime- thank you!!