How do you judge the condition of a climbing rope?

After we've left our mother, is there any more important umbilicus beyond the one binding the leader to the belayer? How do you evaluate the quality of that cord before the adrenaline of jumping on a climb takes control? Sure, you can run your hand along it: checking it for obvious mashes, cuts and abrasions. It could be dirty, but is a rope that's been run through the washer and hung in the garage to dry any better? The UIAA gives every rope an acceptable number of falls based on some interesting mechanical tests. How many falls on top rope is equivalent to a UIAA fall. How many leader falls? Certainly, the UIAA test approximates a whipper, but what of lesser falls and slides, and how many of us actually record these events in a notebook some place? Some manufacturers recommend a specific date for retirement; but a rope used daily over an extended period has got to be much harder on it than bringing it out a couple of times a month. How do you judge?