need non-blocking keyboard read on dos - like kbhit?

[Dick Norton]

Hello,

I've gotten pydos.zip from 

http://www.python.org/ftp/python/wpy/dos.html

and it runs but I need either threads (these seem absent)
or a non-blocking
keyboard char in routine to return an otherwise unsed 
thinkpad back to some level of dignity as a shop timer.

Is there a routine like kbhit without msvcrt (dos, not windows)?

Thanks,
Dick Norton