thread_spike.rb

require 'thread'
require 'date'

# Format number of hours, minutes and seconds since start time:
def elapsed_time_formatted(start_time)
  end_time = DateTime.now
  total_seconds = ((end_time - start_time) * 24 * 60 * 60).to_i
  seconds = total_seconds % 60
  minutes = (total_seconds / 60) % 60
  hours = total_seconds / (60 * 60)
  return format("%02d:%02d:%02d", hours, minutes, seconds)
end

start_time = DateTime.now


done = false
Thread.new do

  ## Long running tasks go here
  4.times do |i|
    sleep 1
  end
  
  done = true
end

# Print time since start every second:
while (done == false)  do
  puts elapsed_time_formatted(start_time)
  sleep(1)
end

puts "Done."

Use this as a skeleton if there is a long running process (like really long running tests) and you want to know for how long it has been going on.