Nightflier's advice to look for the small triangle was the solution to accessing properties. I was about to mark this solved, but when wicd scans, even though it "sees" my network(s), it comes up as "Failed to get IP address."
I tried several combinations of setting up my computer and usb wireless receiver, and tried using a usb hub and plugging the receiver into the hub, and running "lsusb." When I did that, the terminal showed the hub, but not the wireless receiver. I removed the hub and plugged the receiver in, and retried "lsub." When I did, the hub was still listed, and the receiver still wasn't showing.