time.sleep(1) sometimes runs for 200 seconds under windows

[Paul Probert]

Hi,
   My app runs in a loop looking for changes in a database, and like a 
good boy I call time.sleep(1) inside the loop. Unfortunately this 
sometimes runs for 200 seconds or so, presumably while my OS is calling 
Bill Gates to tell him what I've been doing. This happens under NT4, 
W2k, and XP. What do people do to fix this? Thanks!

Paul Probert
University of Wisconsin