[Al Skierkiewicz]

Ken and Joe,
Let us not forget that no matter what the individual benefits or pitfalls, I can go down to the local Radio Shack and pick up a 555 usually with a schematic on the back and have something useful, albeit inaccurate, within an hour or so. I would love to use a PIC, but don't have any at a local store or my junkbox or even at work. And the fishing timer I built for my wife's aunt, works great and no one cares if it times out at 15 minutes or even at sixteen minutes. As long as it times out and reminds us to move on to a new spot, everyone is happy.
BTW, I used a dual 555 to make a really annoying alarm output for my Heathkit digital clock. It has lot's of distortion, dual frequencies and darn near knocks me out of bed at 4:44 AM each morning. (for an audio guy, the distortion does the trick) My wife likes that better than having 220 volts hooked up to the bedsprings.