Hmm, script is at work, and I'm out of the office all week. This is the basis of it though, hope it's enough to get you started.
while(){
open(UPT,"uptime|"

or die "oops...\n$!\n";
while(<UPT>){
if(/average:/){
$averages = $';
@averages_array = split(/,/,$averages);
# next line checks load average against some
# value, insert your own value instead of 2
if(@averages_array[0] > 2){
open(SM,"|sendmail you@your.office.com"

or die "oops again...\n$!\n";
print SM "Subject: Load average too high...\n\n";
print SM "Looks a bit busy here...\n";
close(SM);
}
}
}
sleep(60);
} Mike
michael.j.lacey@ntlworld.com
Email welcome if you're in a hurry or something -- but post in tek-tips as well please, and I will post my reply here as well.