When will the rain stop?

It's been raining pretty much continually since we've been in France and are now in Florence. When we arrived, the sun was shining - within the space of about five minutes - the heavens opened and a storm let loose and we've had thunder and lightening and the rain was torrential. Well, I suppose it will then leave me enough time to start preparing myself for thinking about what I will say on launch night. I keep trying to practice my public speaking - unused to so doing... Who do I thank and how long do I take to thank everyone without everyone else falling asleep? I note that the book has been number 1 in the Amazon 'forthcoming titles: drug and alcohol abuse'! Such a claim to fame...