I thought about that, tubebuoy, but the problems just seem too weird for a mouse dying (although I could be wrong). Some of the more recent things I've noticed is clicking on a taskbar icon and getting two IE windows pop up, and the need to highlight a word multiple times before it lets me select it.
I actually bought the Logitech MX1000, but checking it out of the box decided it was much to noisy and clicky for me, so I'm taking it back without even installing. I threw away a bunch of computer peripherals clogging up my closet recently, but I'll see if I still have an old mouse to experiment with.
It could well be my <1 year old mouse is dying; however, my main concern is to determine if I've been infected by anything--which is why I'm soliciting the experience of B1 users to see if this has happened to someone in the past. The mouse problems are an annoyance I can deal with; getting my identity hijacked is a major downer that would bring major complications to my life.
Thanks for the response, tubebuoy.
torataka