In Microstation V8, the bottom bar does not show any readouts. For example, if I select "measure distance" there is no text indication along the bottom of the Microstatin window.
PJACOBSON, it would help to know which version of MicroStation V8 you are running (8.1, 2004 Edition, XM, V8i) but here are some ideas.
The readout should also be located in the tool settings window. From there you can copy and paste the values.
In the Status Bar at the bottom of the MicroStation window you can click the message center and the previous values should be listed. You can also right click in the message center and save all the messages to a TXT file.