I thought my desk was smooth too untill I got a mousepad. It also keeps the little feet on the bottom of the mouse from getting worn out as quickly. The effort to start and stop the mouse seems trivial, until you see just how easy it can truly be with a mousepad.
It also helps keep crap from building up on the mouse skates since the soft mousepad is constantly "sweeping" the bottom of the mouse.
try a trackball, its hard at first but once you become accustomed to it, the ergonomics is so much better. I personally prefer the thumb ball style that Logitech makes.
Plus you get to tell people your cleaning your balls again, like the good ol days