diff --git a/src/AttentionNoticeHandler.cc b/src/AttentionNoticeHandler.cc
index 393e566e..9425bb22 100644
--- a/src/AttentionNoticeHandler.cc
+++ b/src/AttentionNoticeHandler.cc
@@ -78,14 +78,11 @@ void AttentionNoticeHandler::addAttention(Focusable &client) {
     if (**timeout_res == 0) 
         return;
 
-    Timer *timer = new Timer();
     // setup timer
-    timeval timeout;
-    timeout.tv_sec = 0;
-    timeout.tv_usec = **timeout_res * 1000;
     RefCount<Command<void> > cmd(new ToggleFrameFocusCmd(client));
+    Timer *timer = new Timer();
     timer->setCommand(cmd);
-    timer->setTimeout(timeout); 
+    timer->setTimeout(0, **timeout_res * 1000);
     timer->fireOnce(false); // will repeat until window has focus
     timer->start();
 
diff --git a/src/FbTk/Timer.cc b/src/FbTk/Timer.cc
index 7d7a84bd..60df968a 100644
--- a/src/FbTk/Timer.cc
+++ b/src/FbTk/Timer.cc
@@ -85,6 +85,11 @@ void Timer::setTimeout(const timeval &t) {
     m_timeout.tv_usec = t.tv_usec;
 }
 
+void Timer::setTimeout(unsigned int secs, unsigned int usecs) {
+    m_timeout.tv_sec = secs;
+    m_timeout.tv_usec = usecs;
+}
+
 void Timer::setCommand(RefCount<Command<void> > &cmd) {
     m_handler = cmd;
 }
diff --git a/src/FbTk/Timer.hh b/src/FbTk/Timer.hh
index 6be269b0..e61d77f9 100644
--- a/src/FbTk/Timer.hh
+++ b/src/FbTk/Timer.hh
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ public:
     void setTimeout(time_t val);
     /// set timeout 
     void setTimeout(const timeval &val);
+    void setTimeout(unsigned int secs, unsigned int usecs);
     void setCommand(RefCount<Command<void> > &cmd);
     void setInterval(int val) { m_interval = val; }
     /// start timing