Pessimism never won any battle.

-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

A definition for today: A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount "up to and including my life."

That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.

Best wishes to you all, including the one who married my mother more than half a century ago, and my cousin recuperating from his wounds in Iraq.

Thank you. Thank you.

I plan to be waving this morning at the downtown parade that begins at 10 a.m.

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GIDDY UP: My giddy is up because gas prices seem to drop each day. Several times a day, I suspect.

I start out my morning commute to work and the posted prices on the filling stations get lower and lower as I make my way in.

And I think it's great. I filled up both family cars over the weekend for what it took me to fill one last month.

And the best part? It's going to keep dropping.

"In the weeks ahead, we still expect retail gasoline prices to move lower," said Gregg Laskoski, the managing director for public relations, AAA Auto Club South.

He says the federal energy experts have found two main reasons for the falling prices.

First, we're actually not driving as much and using less fuel. So yay, us.

Second, those gougers at OPEC keep saying they're going to cut production, but they are having trouble doing so.

So, I say we celebrate the good news with another contest. The winner gets my Hot Wheels car pencil sharpener.

Name the lowest price regular gas will drop to between now and Christmas Day in the Augusta-Aiken area.

We'll use AAA's posted Web site as a neutral measure.

The deadline for your e-mail entries to bill.kirby@augustachronicle.com will be Nov. 16. One vote per person.

(It's a sweet pencil sharpener.)

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: If total government control equals safety, why are prisons so dangerous?

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TODAY'S JOKE: Here's one from Everett Fernandez.

The teacher says to her new class, "For our first lesson, each of you will stand up, tell us your name, what your father does, spell what your father does and then explain it to us.

"All right, Billy. You go first."

Little Billy stands up and says, "My name's Billy. My father's a lawyer, l-a-w-y-e-r, and he defends people in court."

The teacher says, "Very good. All right, Benjamin."

Another little boy stands up and says, "My name's Benjamin. My father's a pharmacist, f-a-m ... f-a-r-n ... f-n ..."

The teacher says, "Benjamin, you go home tonight and learn how to spell pharmacist. All right, Angelo."

A third little boy stands up and says, "My name's Angelo. My old man's a bookie, b-o-o-k-i-e, and if he was here, he'd give you 9-to-5 odds Benjamin ain't spellin' pharmacist by tomorrow."