I wonder if the OP is ambidextrous? If using the mouse gave me a hand free to scribble some notes, I'd be a much more enthusiastic mouse user. Alas, both writing and mousing require my right hand, and there aren't many good uses for my left.
It's awkward initially, but for most people takes only a few days to be comfortable with it. Then they switch back and forth easily (I do it several times a day).
As an analogy, a lot of people (including me) started writing on a keyboard with only one hand (or at least hitting most buttons with one hand). We had to train our brains to use both. That was a lot more challenging than learning to mouse with the other hand.
I failed, but in the process, I learned a few interesting things - one of which was that it was far easier for me to train myself to competently use my left hand for mousing than for writing.
This might be the case for you, too - try using your left hand to mouse for a day or two and see if you can get the hang of it.
At 20 i was consulting and ran across my first system with a mouse. I quickly realized that there was no profit in using it with my right hand since that was needed for numpad and shift selects etc.
So I moved the mouse to the left and never looked back. My hand just goes there when it makes sense -- never breaking my focus or the close-contact my right has with the keyboard. That has made this entire discussion about mouse good/bad a non-issue.
It may take some time to train yourself if you're not a puppy anymore, but its worth stepping out of that argument and into something else.
"for crying out loud", "they even moved the f-keys to the top row so that you can have the mouse on the left of your keyboard!" /<smiles>
(p.s. op .. at 36 i learned to play the conga and that allowed me to go crazy with the ambidexterity like nothing else, ever. just buy a set and give it a go!)
But also, as a left-handed person I still use my right for the mouse when using it more actively, so I could scribble thoughts simultaneously with my left if I wanted to. I think I might have only done that like, once.
USB mice are cheap, plug two in, one on each side. Makes it easier to use non-dominant hand occasionally without having to move the mouse around.