working directory for panel?

[Steve Luzynski <sluzynsk sound net>]

Okay, this has been bugging me for a while and I can't figure out how to
fix it. On a fresh GNOME install, gnome-terminal and gmc start out on ~/
like you would expect. After a panel crash, they both always start in
~/.gnome-desktop. 

So where's the setting that needs to be fixed? Deleting the .gnome
directory fixes it, of course, but I really don't want to recustomize
everything again.

And as a side note it'd be cool if panel crashes (rare as they are) didn't
cause this little irritation..

Thanks,
Steve