Why do my clock, indicator applets, and notification area sometimes move around when I restart? How can I prevent that?

I have all of them locked to the panel, but they keep moving around upon logging out and back in. So, for example, sometimes the Indicator Applet Session is farthest to the right, but sometimes the Clock/Calendar is, and occasionally the Notification Area is. This is a small issue, but annoying.

There is no real solution except to wait for bug #44082 to be fixed. However, there is a (very hackish) workaround. Put your panel applets where you want them, then run gconftool-2 --dump /apps/panel panel_backup.xml. When the applets get messed up, run

 gconftool-2 --load panel_backup.xml
 killall gnome-panel

I use a simpler and more user friendly solution, IMO, than dumping to XML and restoring (which didn't always work for me, btw).

So, the answer to life, universe and everything is (not 42):
1. Install "Lockdown Editor" using Ubuntu Software Center (or whatever you prefer)
2. Launch "Lockdown Editor" under "System->Administration"
3. Under "Panel" enable "Lock down the panels"

Whenever I want to make changes to the panels I disable the setting, make the changes and enable it again. Worked like a charm for me so I hope it helps others too.

Cheers!