[Catalyst] DBI Models Question.

[John Karr]

I've been dabbling with catalyst for a while and working with Model::DBI. There are a few issues that I haven't figured out to my satisfaction.
 
loading the dbi connection strings from myapp.conf
 
extending the dbi model with DBIx::Simple. My current method is to create a new dbixsimple object from $self->dbh in every subroutine, I would like to get to a point where this is set up in setup of each dbi model and accessible in a manner like either: my $db = $self->db or $self->do_some_dbixsimple_method( @arguments ).
 
I'd also be happy to hear some views on: 
pointers on good coding for dbi models -- the balance between reusability and not ending up with a method in your model for every possible query.

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The discussion I am attempting to start is about DBI models and not the merits of ORM vs DBI, but about doing DBI models well.