use strict;
use warnings;

#my $scale  = 42;
my $myscale = init_myscale(1);

print "\$myscale = >$myscale<\n";

sub init_myscale
{
    my ($default) = @_;

    no strict   qw( vars );
    no warnings qw( uninitialized );

    return eval $scale ? $scale : $default;
}