Chris,

As someone else suggested, you might like to look at 
http://www.quick.com.au/FreeWare/configs.html

The rc.sh script which is the driver for configs, and gets installed along
with /etc/rc_d/* (name chosen to _not_ match any vendor's), and inlcudes
an installation script cronjob.list which allows you to have any arbitrary
cronjob say /etc/m15 (run every 15 minutes) be a link to rc.sh and process
everything in /etc/m15.d.  Part of the standard goop takes care of setting
up the environment, gathering output to a report which is either dumped in
a reports directory or e-mailed to someone... etc etc.

This has all been available, working on dozens of *NIX systems including 
NetBSD for about 7 years.  Yes it is all geared to automated configuration
and managment of large numbers of systems, so some of it might be overkill
for a home system.  Still it is there and available.

Now of course, the lexical ordering is dictated by use of the evil Snnn 
method so some people would rather not even think about it, and the
flamefests that ensue when such things are mentioned is one reason I try
not to mention this stuff on NetBSD lists more than once a year :-)

--sjg