Actually, CAT III is for distribution panels and building wiring up to 600V, which covers most residential and light commercial work. The real danger is using a CAT II meter on those circuits since it's only rated for outlet and appliance testing, not the high energy transients from big motors or utility faults. Glad your buddy is okay but yeah, those ratings are there for a reason and Fluke's site does a solid job explaining the difference.

Haha yeah well I guess when you've been doing this long enough you learn that being stubborn just makes you look dumb in the end. I've got a pretty thick skull too, believe me, I've had plenty of those moments where my first instinct is to argue back and defend my position. But honestly, that client was just right and I was wrong, and I realized halfway through my argument that I was just making myself look worse by doubling down. It's funny how sometimes the people we're supposed to be helping end up teaching us the most. So yeah, I'll take the humble pie over the pride any day now, even if it does taste a little bitter going down.

Take what @nora54 said with a grain of salt though - a lot of monitors just can't handle the constant jostling in a backpack.

See it a bit different though. Yeah the big names get all the eyeballs but that doesn't mean readers aren't hunting for something fresh and indie. A lot of folks are tired of the same five bestsellers and dig through forums like this to find hidden gems. Maybe the issue isn't the stat itself but where we're putting our energy to get noticed. Have you tried posting in any smaller book groups or subreddits where people actually want to discover new writers?

Started doing that after a cracked arch last year and it saves so much time.