Update........I found what I was looking for while searching on the web (kerry_s in the Ubuntu forum). I though I'd post the answer here so as to help others:
there is a keyboard mouse control, that actually controls the mouse.
hold shift+ctrl and press the numlk, you might hear a beep, mine doesn't beep on this laptop, but did when use a regular keyboard, that activates keyboard mouse control. on my laptop the number key's are accessed by holding the fn key.
# 7, 8 ,9 are the up directions
# 4, 6 are left and right
# 1, 2, 3 are the down directions
/ is the left mouse key
* is the middle mouse key
- is the right mouse key
Rick