gnome panel stacking persistence fails

[Skunk Worx]

I'm not sure if what I am doing is considered wise or useful, but here goes.

In F7 I could stack two gnome panels over each other on the bottom of 
the screen, and their order would persist. Under F9, some type of 
)perhaps unintentional) weighting takes hold, and one panel takes 
precedence over the other after two reboots.

Typically I would stack the panel carrying the menu (and any other 
widget(s)) over a blank panel, and then load the blank panel with an 
image. The "image panel" is configured to be the lowest on the display, 
and the menu panel is just above that.

In F9 I can do this, and it seems to stick across one restart. The image 
panel is along the bottom of the display, and the menu-bearing panel is 
stuck above the image panel.

Additional reboots alter the order. The panel carrying the menu (and any 
other widget(s)) ends up below the image panel, at the bottom of the 
display. I can reorder it again, but the 2nd reboot ends up with the 
panel order reversed from my preference.

It's as though gnome now prefers, when given the choice between two 
stacked panels, to always place a "loaded panel" at the bottom of the 
display.

---
John