my $Start_Time    = time;
my $LogFile       = "logfile.log";
my $ProgressIndex = 1;
my $i = 0;

EnterIntoLog ("My freaky message");
$i *= $i for (1..10000000);
EnterIntoLog ("Another message");

sub EnterIntoLog {
  my $message       = shift;
  my $Now           = time;
  my $Seconds_Past  = int ($Now - $Start_Time);
  my $Minutes       = int ($Seconds_Past/60);
  my $Seconds       = $Seconds_Past % 60;

  my $ProgressString = 
     sprintf ( "%05d\t" . 
                localtime($Now) . 
                "\t%02d:%02d\t$message\n",
                $ProgressIndex++, $Minutes, $Seconds); 
  print $ProgressString;
  open LOG, ">>$LogFile" or die "Can't open $LogFile: $!\n";
  print LOG $ProgressString or die "Can't print to $LogFile: $!\n";
  close LOG or die "Can't close $LogFile: $!\n";
}