Screen / keyboard gets out of sync

Oracle Enterprise Linux (Red Hat Enterprise Linux) release 5.6 occassional when I'm typing in the terminal window, a popup error message (email) shows up, when I close it my cursor is reversed and my keyboard doesn't work correctly... it is as if I PRESSED a control key (or did a right-mouse click) and didn't let go ... so I can't type anthing successfully, mouse clicks will open an app but then can't pick any menu selections. the only solution I have is to remotely login and reboot the Linux server to reset it.. is there any other way?

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