Mark -
I was having all the usual problems with a ball mouse about 2 months ago, and I made the best computer move I ever made. I bought a Logitech Marble Mouse (T-BC21) trackball, and I will never, ever, ever go back to a movable mouse - ball, optical, infrared, ultrasonic, Tip-tronic, bubonic or otherwise. It is just so incredibly convenient not having to move the mouse around. You can scroll forever just by spinning that big trackball with your index finger - forget running out of desktop. Highlighting text is easy and precise - just the thing for those cut-and-paste "flame" jobs. And cleaning takes about 3 seconds, and is insanely simple. All this for $19.99. (That's the price of a corded one, which is all Staples carried, and does just fine in the hostile environment of my shop). When my wireless optical mouse at home goes belly up (if not sooner) I'll get a wireless trackball to replace it.
It just seems to me that your troubles are mouse-related. I urge you to try a trackball, I bet it will solve your problem, and you'll be wondering why you haven't been using one all along. Once you go "track", you'll never go back. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
John