rlrlatr35 wrote:
I need to insert special characters as symbols, where do I find them?
Also how do I change the curly quotes to straight quotes as used in
measuring?

For inserting special characters, see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/InsertSpecChars.htm.

If you have a document that already contains curly quotes, first go to Tools
AutoCorrect Options AutoFormat As You Type and turn off the "Smart
quotes" option. Then open the Edit Replace dialog, put one quote character
in the Find What box and one in the Replace With box, and hit Replace All.
The quote in the Find What will match both kinds of curly quotes, and
they'll be replaced with straight ones.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org