Take a look at this support article:
*Mac OS X 10.5: Renaming or saving after using 'Apply to enclosed items' on a Home folder*
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1334
Although the article was written for the particular problem noted in its title, the solution there contains the following instructions on how to reset the permissions on your Home folder. Although written for OS X 10.5, they probably apply for OS X 10.6 as well (use your OS X 10.6 install DVD). Be sure everything is backed up before trying this:
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1 Log in as the affected user account.
2 Open Terminal (in /Applications/Utilities).
3 Type this followed by Return:
sudo chmod -RN ~
Note: If the affected user has no account password, sudo will not work. See Sudo command requires a non-blank admin password for more details.
Note: The character after "-RN" is a tilde (~).
4 Start up from the Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard installation DVD (insert the disc, restart, and hold the C key as the computer starts up).
5 Choose Reset Password from the Utilities menu in the Installer.
6 Select the Mac OS X 10.5 drive.
7 Select the affected username.
8 Click the "Reset" button in the "Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs" section.
9 Quit the Reset Password application.
10 Quit the Installer.
11 Start up from the Mac OS X hard disk volume (not DVD).
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