Having lunch just hours before a possible state government shutdown, state worker Lori Sobczak tried to remain optimistic. "I think there's frustration," said Sobczak, a two-year state transportation department employee. The fear, she said, is "the unknown, you know. I mean rumors are flying around [a shutdown] could be, you know, 45-60 days," said Sobczak. "That's scary. "Even with two-income families it's a scary situation to be put in," she added. "You just want it settled." Sobszak said Minnesota Department of Transportation workers were told turn in their employee badges when they left work Thursday, and to make sure they take any plants with them that may die without water. She said however that Thursday's announcement that state workers would be covered by health insurance during a shutdown was welcome news. Paul Eaton, another MnDOT employee in the department's permit division, agreed that the possibility of a shutdown was frustrating. "They forget about the little guy that's working," Eaton said of Gov. Mark Dayton and the Republican legislative leaders trying to negotiate a solution to the state's $5 billion budget deficit. Eaton also said that, should there be a shutdown, there may not be much political pressure initially to try resolve the state's budget dilemma. "Anything they may have temporarily kind of come up with – 'If we can get this done, we can get this in' – all that goes out the window," he said. "They go back to their, 'We're not going to give in, until you give this,' " added Eaton. "It could then be a big, long ordeal, which then that's really going to hurt."