Thank you, Bill, for the washer hint, such an obvious thing but
overlooked. :-)

There used to be a building inspector in our town named Bill Thomas. Good
person as I remember.

Glenna

writes:
Greetings,

I have learned the hard way, cut the end of the
stick square to the length.

Also useful sometimes, attach a block or washer to
the end of the stick so you can hook the stick onto
what ever you want to mark dimensions.

Do not get too clever with abbreviations. You might
not remember them months later. Write real words
and descriptions.

Sincerely,
Bill Thomas