problem in editing imported file
 

As I have done many hundreds of times before, but not on this computer,
I was trying to edit some data this afternoon. Its in a very messy
format, so I just imported the text, line by line.

Then I planned to parse the line. Imagine my surprise when I indicated a
fixed width of two for state, and found out that Texas is "T". I finally
did a workaround, and parsed off three places to get two, but find this
very peculiar.

Also - when I got done, some of the columns wouldn't size down; they
seem to have spaces at the end, but when I edit/erase the spaces, the
text starts to disappear. I promise I am not drinking.

Can anyone shed some light on this problem - any assistance would be
gratefully appreciated.
--
Regards,

P D Sterling
New York, Texas & Texas, New York