[ale] no mouse in XFCE4

[Paul Cartwright]

I have ubuntu 13.10 installed, and I have a Logitech wireless mouse. I
know I've used it before in XFCE, but I recently did a re-install.. and
I usually run MATE desktop. I installed XFCE4, and when I login, there
is no mouse pointer. If I move the mouse up the the upper left it
actually will activate the menus, I was able to hit the LOGOUT button.
What am I missing?

all I see in syslog is:
syslog
Dec 17 15:34:42 pauls-server kernel: [    1.084121] mousedev: PS/2 mouse
device common for all mice

which is weird, because the date command shows this:
# date
Tue Dec 17 10:43:14 EST 2013

-- 
Paul Cartwright
Registered Linux User #367800 and new counter #561587