Tim Pease [mailto:tim.pease / gmail.com] 
# I just tried it out, and that is the correct code :)
# clear = "\e[K"
# print "a very long line of text that is longer than the next line"
# sleep 1
# print "\rshort line of text#{clear}"
# sleep 1
# print "\n"

i just do something like

MAX=foo_integer||80
CR="\r"
s=foo_string[0..MAX].ljust(MAX)  #or rjust or center

print CR+s

kind regards -botp