[Leica] sm question

[Guy Bennett <guybnt@idt.net>]

lugnuts,

very recently bought a iiif rd + elmar 50/3.5 - i camera/lens combo i have
long lusted after. i managed to load it after (only) two tries (not much
worse than the m when i first loaded it), having trimmed the film leader
with a pair of scissors. i am now shooting my first roll of film with it,
and am as excited as hell! i've gone to the archives and researched the
iiif info, and yet a question or two remain (and there will undoubtedly be
others):

first of all, the proper working of the slow speed dial. if i'm not
mistaken, to use the slow speeds i've got to have the big dial set to 1/25
(my slowest speed on that dial), then i can use the slower speeds on the
smaller dials, right? well, going through the shutter speeds, which all
sound great, i found i can't get the the shutter to remain open on t. it
stays open a good long while, but does shut without my doing anything. is
this normal? if so, what am i doing wrong?

does the film speed indicator serve any purpose other than remind me what
film is in the camera? if not, it's not very useful for those of us who
rarely dip below 100 asa (referred to a 'fast film' in the accompanying
manual, which boasts a 35 cent price tag), or have i missed something?

is there a definitive answer (should such a thing exist) to the question of
these 'international' shutter speeds and how one meters properly for them?
i've taken my first few shots metering with my m6, just to see if all is
working as it should, but will undoubtedly purchase a small lightmeter (a
lunapro, most likely, unless there are similar models you feel strongly
about). aside from shutter speeds both cameras share, i'm going to have to
compensate one way or the other when i use 25, 75, 100 and 200. any
suggestions?

finally, since i can't imagine i'll use only the 50 with this camera, what
suggestions have you in the wide angle range (specifically 28s and 35s)?
hopefully something that would not be too rare (and thus too expensive).
what wide angle sm lenses really shine?

thanks for your answers and suggestions.

guy