Slow boot for unconnected LAN

[tns1]

FC8:
There is a long timeout (> 10sec) when booting without a LAN connection. 
I am not sure if this only waiting for a dhcp response or if it would 
happen even if my IP was static.

The behavior I'd like is to default to a specific static IP if I don't 
get a dynamic assignment in 3 secs or so. Can I get this without a 
kernel rebuild?

Also how do I set the default tabstops from 8 to 4 in vim? There is no 
.vimrc file.
thanks