To simplify it rather than reading through the entire thread, the feature request is to have the ability to change a variable that uses the -u switch to automatically unset after a period of time without losing that timer. Having a new switch to keep that would probably be the best solution.
So...
/set -u60 %var value
To change the value later without losing the remaining time before it is unset, it could have another switch that would still unset the variable after the original 60s completes...
/set -v %var newvalue
That would continue the countdown on the timer from wherever it was when the value was changed.
Additionally, having the ability to obtain the time remaining on that timer using $var(%varname).secs would help as well.
