Hi jetblast, easiest way to measure distance between 2 points is to draw a line, - while you are drawing it the length of the line is displayed in the "d" field in the bottom toolbar just beneath the x,y,z coordinates.

Then instead of actually finishing the line, hit escape to cancel it.

There is also a plug-in you can install to get a "CustomDistance" command here:
http://kyticka.webzdarma.cz/3d/moi/#MeasureDistance

There isn't currently any function set up for measuring surface area or volume. In the future I want to add those in but for now you would need to export your model to a different CAD program to obtain those measurements. Rhino or ViaCAD can work good for that. Also if you export to STL format there are various STL viewer/analyzer programs that can give you a measurement from that as well, like this one: http://software.materialise.com/minimagics

- Michael