A discovery about my question #1. When I placed the post that did not produce a mortise, I placed it a fraction off my grid lines and thus slightly too long for the cooresponding tie beam. This was not visible until I zoomed way in. When I moved the post where it should have been, the mortise appeared in the shop drawings. Thought I'd share this just in case anyone was puzzled by a similar situation.
Thanks again for all the assistance.
I feel like I'm making good progress and off and running with sketchup.
Dave
