Logging: all logs should use the same format

[mlucool]

Problem

In some places we use date + time for logs and in others we still use the python default of time only. For example here vs. this better default.

Proposed Solution

Make it easy to log everything in the same format (i.e. date + time) and updating all logging in this repo to use said mechanism. If we take this proposal up, it should also be easy for downstream applications to use this new mechanism for setting the same logging format.