print time; 
eval{ 
    local $SIG{ ALRM } = sub { print "time to get up", time; die}; 
    alarm( 10 ); 
    sleep 20; 
}; 
alarm( 0 ); 
print time;;

1201323436
time to get up 1201323446
1201323446

[0] Perl> print $^O, $];;
MSWin32 5.008006