diff --git a/CHANGES.markdown b/CHANGES.markdown
index 4d5c66b..188e59c 100644
--- a/CHANGES.markdown
+++ b/CHANGES.markdown
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ Version 0.2.5, 02.09.08
 
 Version 0.2.4, 08.06.08
 - accept both async_ and asynch_ as prefixes for workling method invocation. thank you francois beausoleil!
-- added memcached configuration options to starling.yml. see example yml for details. thank you larry diehl!
+- added memcached configuration options to workling.yml. see example yml for details. thank you larry diehl!
 - re-raise exceptions if there is a problem adding an item to the starling queue. thank you digitalronin!
 - added status script for starling client. thank you andrew carter!
 - applied patches from dave dupre: http://davedupre.com/2008/03/29/ruby-background-tasks-with-starling-part-2/
diff --git a/README.markdown b/README.markdown
index 348118c..980d975 100644
--- a/README.markdown
+++ b/README.markdown
@@ -97,14 +97,14 @@ Workling will now automatically detect and use Starling, unless you have also in
 
 ## Starting up the required processes
 
-Here's what you need to get up and started in development mode. Look in config/starling.yml to see what the default ports are for other environments. 
+Here's what you need to get up and started in development mode. Look in config/workling.yml to see what the default ports are for other environments. 
 
     sudo starling -d -p 22122
     script/workling_starling_client start
 
-## Configuring starling.yml
+## Configuring workling.yml
 
-Workling copies a file called starling.yml into your applications config directory. You can delete this file if you're not planning to use Starling. The config file tells Workling on which port Starling is listening. 
+Workling copies a file called workling.yml into your applications config directory. You can delete this file if you're not planning to use Starling. The config file tells Workling on which port Starling is listening. 
 
 Notice that the default production port is 15151. This means you'll need to start Starling with -p 15151 on production. 
 
diff --git a/lib/workling.rb b/lib/workling.rb
index af19c9c..6c70957 100644
--- a/lib/workling.rb
+++ b/lib/workling.rb
@@ -4,9 +4,17 @@
 module Workling
   class WorklingError < StandardError; end
   class WorklingNotFoundError < WorklingError; end
-  class StarlingNotFoundError < WorklingError
+  class QueueserverNotFoundError < WorklingError
     def initialize
-      super "config/starling.yml configured to connect to starling on #{ Workling.config[:listens_on] } for this environment. could not connect to starling on this host:port. pass starling the port with -p flag when starting it. If you don't want to use Starling at all, then explicitly set Workling::Remote.dispatcher (see README for an example)"
+      super "config/workling.yml configured to connect to queue server on #{ Workling.config[:listens_on] } for this environment. could not connect to queue server on this host:port. for starling users: pass starling the port with -p flag when starting it. If you don't want to use Starling, then explicitly set Workling::Remote.dispatcher (see README for an example)"
+    end
+  end
+
+  class ConfigurationError < WorklingError
+    def initialize
+      super File.exist?(File.join(RAILS_ROOT, 'config', 'starling.yml')) ? 
+        "config/starling.yml has been depracated. rename your config file to config/workling.yml then try again!" :
+        "config/workling.yml could not be loaded. check out README.markdown to see what this file should contain. "
     end
   end
   
@@ -98,11 +106,14 @@ def self.try_load_a_memcache_client
   
   #
   #  returns a config hash. reads RAILS_ROOT/config/workling.yml
-  #  NOTE: this used to be starling.yml. simply rename to upgrade.
   #
   def self.config
     config_path = File.join(RAILS_ROOT, 'config', 'workling.yml')
     @@config ||=  YAML.load_file(config_path)[RAILS_ENV || 'development'].symbolize_keys
+    
+    # make sure the config file could be read correctly. 
+    raise ConfigurationError.new unless @@config
+    
     @@config[:memcache_options].symbolize_keys! if @@config[:memcache_options]
     @@config 
   end
diff --git a/lib/workling/clients/starling.rb b/lib/workling/clients/memcache_queue.rb
similarity index 57%
rename from lib/workling/clients/starling.rb
rename to lib/workling/clients/memcache_queue.rb
index 6b7c846..747f029 100644
--- a/lib/workling/clients/starling.rb
+++ b/lib/workling/clients/memcache_queue.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #
-#  Wrapper for the starling connection. The connection is made using fiveruns-memcache-client, 
+#  This client can be used for all Queue Servers that speak Memcached, such as Starling. 
+#
+#  Wrapper for the memcache connection. The connection is made using fiveruns-memcache-client, 
 #  or memcache-client, if this is not available. See the README for a discussion of the memcache 
 #  clients. 
 #
@@ -7,25 +9,25 @@
 #
 module Workling
   module Clients
-    class Starling
+    class MemcacheQueue
       
       # the url with which the memcache client expects to reach starling
-      attr_accessor :starling_urls
+      attr_accessor :queueserver_urls
       
       # the memcache connection object
       attr_accessor :connection
       
       #
-      #  the client attempts to connect to starling using the configuration options found in 
+      #  the client attempts to connect to queueserver using the configuration options found in 
       #
-      #      Workling.config. this can be configured in config/starling.yml. 
+      #      Workling.config. this can be configured in config/workling.yml. 
       #
       #  the initialization code will raise an exception if memcache-client cannot connect 
-      #  to starling.
+      #  to queueserver.
       #
       def initialize
-        @starling_urls = Workling.config[:listens_on].split(',').map { |url| url ? url.strip : url }
-        options = [@starling_urls, Workling.config[:memcache_options]].compact
+        @queueserver_urls = Workling.config[:listens_on].split(',').map { |url| url ? url.strip : url }
+        options = [@queueserver_urls, Workling.config[:memcache_options]].compact
         @connection = ::MemCache.new(*options)
         
         raise_unless_connected!
@@ -37,12 +39,12 @@ def method_missing(method, *args)
       end
       
       private
-        # make sure we can actually connect to starling on the given port
+        # make sure we can actually connect to queueserver on the given port
         def raise_unless_connected!
           begin 
             @connection.stats
           rescue
-            raise Workling::StarlingNotFoundError.new
+            raise Workling::QeueuserverNotFoundError.new
           end
         end
     end
diff --git a/lib/workling/remote/invokers/poller.rb b/lib/workling/remote/invokers/poller.rb
index 45f86db..59c2db8 100644
--- a/lib/workling/remote/invokers/poller.rb
+++ b/lib/workling/remote/invokers/poller.rb
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ class Poller
         # Seconds to wait while resetting connection
         cattr_accessor :reset_time 
 
-        def initialize(routing, client_class = Workling::Clients::Starling)
+        def initialize(routing, client_class = Workling::Clients::MemcacheQueue)
           Poller.sleep_time = Workling.config[:sleep_time] || 2
           Poller.reset_time = Workling.config[:reset_time] || 30
           
diff --git a/lib/workling/remote/runners/starling_runner.rb b/lib/workling/remote/runners/starling_runner.rb
index 97d5ab1..b58cc79 100644
--- a/lib/workling/remote/runners/starling_runner.rb
+++ b/lib/workling/remote/runners/starling_runner.rb
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ class StarlingRunner < Workling::Remote::Runners::Base
         cattr_accessor :client
         
         def initialize
-          StarlingRunner.client = Workling::Clients::Starling.new
+          StarlingRunner.client = Workling::Clients::MemcacheQueue.new
           StarlingRunner.routing = Workling::Routing::ClassAndMethodRouting.new
         end
         
diff --git a/lib/workling/return/store/starling_return_store.rb b/lib/workling/return/store/starling_return_store.rb
index 7b60866..ce91bd7 100644
--- a/lib/workling/return/store/starling_return_store.rb
+++ b/lib/workling/return/store/starling_return_store.rb
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 require 'workling/return/store/base'
-require 'workling/clients/starling'
+require 'workling/clients/memcache_queue'
 
 #
 #  Recommended Return Store if you are using the Starling Runner. This
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ class StarlingReturnStore < Base
         cattr_accessor :client
         
         def initialize
-          self.client = Workling::Clients::Starling.new
+          self.client = Workling::Clients::MemcacheQueue.new
         end
         
         # set a value in the queue 'key'. 
diff --git a/script/starling_status.rb b/script/starling_status.rb
index c222392..9c89b29 100644
--- a/script/starling_status.rb
+++ b/script/starling_status.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
 trap(:INT) { exit }
 
 begin
-  client = Workling::Clients::Starling.new
+  client = Workling::Clients::MemcacheQueue.new
   client.reset
   
   client.stats # do this so that connection is shown as established below. 
diff --git a/test/dispacher_poller_test.rb b/test/dispacher_poller_test.rb
index ed3e05f..1869915 100644
--- a/test/dispacher_poller_test.rb
+++ b/test/dispacher_poller_test.rb
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
     
     client = mock()
     client.expects(:get).at_least_once.returns("hi")
-    Workling::Clients::Starling.expects(:new).at_least_once.returns(client)
+    Workling::Clients::MemcacheQueue.expects(:new).at_least_once.returns(client)
     
     # Don't take longer than 10 seconds to shut this down. 
     Timeout::timeout(10) do
diff --git a/test/starling_client_test.rb b/test/memcachequeue_client_test.rb
similarity index 68%
rename from test/starling_client_test.rb
rename to test/memcachequeue_client_test.rb
index b0d2431..3b6b2fd 100644
--- a/test/starling_client_test.rb
+++ b/test/memcachequeue_client_test.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/test_helper'
 
-context "The starling client" do
-  specify "should be able to connect to multiple Starling instances" do
+context "The memcachequeue client" do
+  specify "should be able to connect to multiple queue instances" do
     Workling.send :class_variable_set, "@@config", { :listens_on => "localhost:12345, 127.0.0.1:12346", :memcache_options => { :namespace => "myapp_development" } }
-    client = Workling::Clients::Starling.new
+    client = Workling::Clients::MemcacheQueue.new
     
-    client.starling_urls.should.equal ["localhost:12345", "127.0.0.1:12346"]
+    client.queueserver_urls.should.equal ["localhost:12345", "127.0.0.1:12346"]
     client.connection.servers.first.host.should == "localhost"
     client.connection.servers.first.port.should == 12345    
     client.connection.servers[1].host.should == "127.0.0.1"
@@ -13,11 +13,11 @@
     client.connection.namespace.should.equal "myapp_development"
   end
   
-  specify "should load it's config as well as any given MemCache options from RAILS_ENV/config/starling.yml" do
+  specify "should load it's config as well as any given MemCache options from RAILS_ENV/config/workling.yml" do
     Workling.send :class_variable_set, "@@config", { :listens_on => "localhost:12345", :memcache_options => { :namespace => "myapp_development" } }
-    client = Workling::Clients::Starling.new
+    client = Workling::Clients::MemcacheQueue.new
     
-    client.starling_urls.should.equal ["localhost:12345"]
+    client.queueserver_urls.should.equal ["localhost:12345"]
     client.connection.servers.first.host.should == "localhost"
     client.connection.servers.first.port.should == 12345    
     client.connection.namespace.should.equal "myapp_development"
@@ -26,8 +26,8 @@
   
   specify "should load it's config correctly if no memcache options are given" do
     Workling.send :class_variable_set, "@@config", { :listens_on => "localhost:12345" }
-    client = Workling::Clients::Starling.new
+    client = Workling::Clients::MemcacheQueue.new
 
-    client.starling_urls.should.equal ["localhost:12345"]
+    client.queueserver_urls.should.equal ["localhost:12345"]
   end  
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/mocks/client.rb b/test/mocks/client.rb
index dd5967f..2066b8b 100644
--- a/test/mocks/client.rb
+++ b/test/mocks/client.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 module Workling
   module Clients
-    class Starling
+    class MemcacheQueue
       def raise_unless_connected!; end
     end
   end
diff --git a/test/starling_return_store_test.rb b/test/starling_return_store_test.rb
index ec1d300..0811ca1 100644
--- a/test/starling_return_store_test.rb
+++ b/test/starling_return_store_test.rb
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   setup do
     # the memoryreturnstore behaves exactly like memcache. 
     MemCache.expects(:new).at_least(0).returns Workling::Return::Store::MemoryReturnStore.new
-    Workling::Clients::Starling.expects(:connection).at_least(0).returns Workling::Return::Store::MemoryReturnStore.new
+    Workling::Clients::MemcacheQueue.expects(:connection).at_least(0).returns Workling::Return::Store::MemoryReturnStore.new
   end
   
   specify "should be able to store a value with a key, and then retrieve that same value with the same key." do