Hello nsleigh,
As far as I'm aware, any USB HID device should be hot-pluggable. Does hot-plugging your mouse and keyboard work OK? What about standard USB thumb drives?
If it's ONLY the BlinkStick with this problem, then we'd need to take a closer look at that specific device. Have you asked the BlinkStick guys? Maybe they are aware of issues like this and would be able to help us out.
Regards,
Lois H.
Intel