I did an automation of an effect parameter on a clip and all went well. Now I can't do any of my normal "tricks" to any of the clips on that track. I wanted to pull the right side of a clip in to shorten it and I don't get my same tools as the other tracks. It seems as tho I'm stuck in some mode that only lets me edit the envelope of the automation. I've made sure that the write is turned off and have messed with the read and write knobbies but all I get is the ability to edit the nodes. Any ideas?

In the track view, just under the track name is the edit filter. Here is where you select what you will edit in the clips pane. It sounds like you have it set to some automation parameter - simply change it to "Clips" and your clips will be available for editing again. 

That's it! Thanks. Fairly important button BTW