You could also edit the /boot/grub/grub.conf file to extend the timer or change the default boot option.
The grub.conf from that SK article does this by removing all the boot options except maintenance mode. It's easy to just change the default boot option directly, though:
[Expert@DallasSA]# egrep "^(default|title)" /boot/grub/grub.conf
default=5
title Revert from other image
title Reset to factory defaults - Gaia R81.10
title Start in 64bit no-debug mode
title Start in maintenance mode 64bit
title Start in 64bit online debug mode
title Start in 64bit normal mode
title HW Diagnostics
The value of 'default' starts from 0 and selects which option to select. Change that line to 'default=3' and it will boot to maintenance mode every time. Then when you're done in maintenance mode, you can change it back to 5 and it will boot in 64-bit normal mode.