Luke, Bran, thank you for your sympathy

Bran I can only hope that some day you have an offspring who becomes an IT, as my excellent No. 1 Son

You're no doubt correct about Bill and Mac and in fact almost nobody is listening any more

Eta thank you for those links. The F9 trick is promising. I used the Apple-tab trick a few times and you have my gratitude as always but it seems easier to sit back using the mouse to access the Dock

Incidentally for anyone who is troubled by the mouse running off the pad at the bottom, the Dock can be dragged off to the side. Click on the apple, then go down to Dock

dalehileman