my $ALARM_EXCEPTION = "alarm clock restart";
eval {
    local $SIG{ALRM} = sub { die $ALARM_EXCEPTION };
    alarm 10;
    flock(FH, 2)    # blocking write lock
                    || die "cannot flock: $!";
    alarm 0;
};
if ($@ && $@ !~ quotemeta($ALARM_EXCEPTION)) { die }