gnome-terminal

[jean-michel deleu <jmdeleu sympatico ca>]

I don't run the gnome-desktop because i find it too ressource-
hungry (cpu=180Mhz), i use fluxbox & tkdesk. But i do use certain gnome
apps.
Whenever i start gnome-terminal or launch any application that
opens in one (such as aumix, mutt, top et al) it opens in a size ~1280 X
~ 200 (this on a 1024 X 768 desktop).I know i can use a command-line
argument to have it open in a smaller size but it seems a little silly
to open a terminal to type in instructions to open another terminal.
Anyway what follows remains true whatever the terminal size.
The prompt is ok, but everything typed gets  s  t  r  e  t  c  h  e  d
o  u  t even when resized using the mouse (trackball actually) on the
window's corner and the command doesn't get processed.
The start of the typing doesn't start right after the prompt but at the
"Help" level of the menu bar around 15 characters to the right of the
prompt. It's as though there were "invisible" characters between the 
prompt and the cursor.
I can't seem to find the right configuration file for it, neither
~/.gnome or the gnome control panel give any joy.
A Google search comes up with similar questions (about size, not the
space between the prompt and the actual entry) but no answers.
Could someone please point the way to the appropriate config file
or tell me how to solve this. TIA

Standard woody ppc install from the "official" debian cd
linux neophyte