I have a function which spawns various types of threads, one of the thread types needs to be spawned every x seconds. I currently have it like this:

bool isTime( Time t )
{
     return t >= now();
}

void spawner()
{
    while( 1 )
    {
         Time t = now();
         if( isTime( t ) )//is time is called in more than one place in the real function
         {
             launchthread()
             t = now() + offset;
         }
    }
}

but I'm thinking of changing it to:

bool isTime()
{
    static Time t = now();
    if( t >= now() )
    {
         t = now() + offset;
         return true;
    }
    return false;
}

void spawner()
{
     if( isTime() )
          launchthread();
}

I think the second way is neater but I generally avoid statics in much the same way I avoid global data; anyone have any thoughts on the different styles?