Create database/password problem

Currently, I'm running FC5, KDE3.5, Postgresql v8.1.4 and trying to use
pgadmin. I'm a refugee from windoze, Paradox, Delphi,
Interbase/Firebird (about 16 years) and Oracle but my cat about wore her
eyeballs out watching me try to get Postgresql/pgadmin to create the
first database. It will not take the password. It appears to me that
pgadmin is supposed to create the password file when one clicks the
create (database) button. Since I can't find the .pgpass, postgresql
probably isn't going to find it either. Could you explain to me how that
file gets created on a _new_ installation? I think that's the problem.
At any rate I have to get this running and I sure would rather use
pgadmin than the command line.

Thanks,
Phil