Heading to the Danger Zone

[grumpymartian]

I have made a miscalculation. Writing a setting in the near past is really difficult. I mean there's a certain amount of hand waving and personal memory that goes into it... but there are details that must be researched and verified. Writing in the near past means there's a strong possibility that there are people alive who remember things well enough to point out where you've gotten things horribly wrong. It also means that I have a time period prior to the internet but not far enough back for historians to care about.  It's just long enough that current maps may not accurately display the information I need. Combine this with picking a geographic region I'm not very familiar with and I'm spending MORE time on research, not less.

Also... how the hell DO you describe Rick Springfield's 1980s hairstyle. Feathered, sure... but I mean there's more to it than that.