Jay.slovak!!!
a PIC for such a simple task!!!
i ask you what is the world coming to!
PICs are good for development reasons yes but in this case i dont think there seems to be much call for development, and the 555 option wouldnt take up that much more space or power.
i'm telling you PICs and Hardware are like a calculator and good old fasioned pen & paper, sure calculators are easy and fast, but its important to keep the old skills going, some situations do call for them.
sorry i guess i'm reluctant to let go off hardware, but its the next logical step i guess, like transistors took over from valves.