Under "users" respecting my HD, I tried to open a file but got a message that I do not have permission to access. Seems strange since the file has my name on it.
If you are at Macintosh HD / Users / you have only access to your Home folder, so if your account is called "John Smith" and your home folder is shortened to "johnsmith" you only have access to files in Macintosh HD / Users / johnsmith.
Do you have a problem with that?