Off again, off again, clippetty clop

Yes, off to Mantua via Bologna, courtesy of Ryanair's policy of positioning their airports at odd junctions, far from the destination one had in mind. Of course, you can't fly to Mantua as it is so nearly surrounded by water that it is practically an island. Which leads on to the conference which I shall attend, on water issues in northern Italy between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. At least, that's what I think it is about - -since my Italian is so poor, I shall be merely dipping my toe into the offered wisdom and certainly attending the few lectures which are to be delivered in English.
It will be the first time I have attended a conference abroad and my first one as a doctoral student researcher.
As I did not get away for any time at all this summer, I feel I can indulge myself before settling down to a winter in libraries and archives here in Ireland. Still it is my second trip to Italy this year and maybe I had better try to speak a little Italian this time.
It will also be really exciting if it is sunny.

no discernible danger

It has been a long time, hasn't it?
While I was writing my dissertation, only a minor dissertation, as I was reminded more than once, I could not find the energy to see if I could remember my username and password. The last time I tried, things went pear-shaped and I vowed not to worry my dear little head about blogging until the stress of the thesis was all over.
and now it is, as is the summer. In a nasty way I'm glad it has been another crap summer, since I didn't care that I was stuck inside, fretting over page references, footnotes and captions. Because I think I spent more time at that task than I did writing the text. As a result, it wasn't very good but it has been submitted and I am past caring. I am trying to recover fitness, energy levels and an appetite to resume studies shortly.
The first two will be difficult and the third is an unknown quantity.

I was thinking about the CERN experiment. 20 years ago, the patch of ground I lived on in California was being considered as the site of the accelerator, one of two sites, I think, that were being investigated in America. Obviously, ours was not the site chosen. How different life might have been if it had been; the scrubby fields around us would have become valuable real estate. Or maybe not; we might have been compulsorily bought out at a government-arranged sum. Either way, we might have got something out of it. As it was I moved away, for reasons unconnected, and life changed anyway.

I do hope that dark matter is created/discovered/observed and lessons learned. Needless to say, I'm no scientist but I'm not worried about the world ending.
I just listened to Peter Cook and Rowan Atkinson's 'End of the World' sketch on a free CD and I feel quite unconcerned about CERN.
At least I finished the darn dissertation.