#all of my stuff in my fire lookout handbook is from the 50s so it's about hand crank phones and party lines

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Question about the phone-in to Fw!Scar's lookout, could it only make domestic calls or does it have the ability to make international calls too? (Not like he needs to call someone in England for no particular reason at all-) or is it only connected to the Headquarters? (Because if it could make domestic calls, imagine how many times he tried to place a pizza delivery order to his lookou-)

That's a great question that probably gets deeper into the intricacies of landline phones in the late 80s/early 90s than I know how to answer. I am assuming that there probably is a way to block the phones from having the ability to make international calls, since you can also do that these days as well. But would they have that turned on? Perhaps they wouldn't. Lots of restrictions govt employees have only came after someone pushed the limit on the rules xD This also seems like something that would likely be decided per-unit in the Forest Service, so I can see some National Forests having different rules on this than others, based on if international calls have been an issue before. So maybe Shoshone National Forest doesn't have any restrictions. For the purposes of the story I think it's more interesting if he DID have the ability to make international calls ;)

I just think that he's going to get an angry report from his supervisor about the phone bill.....that'll go straight to the government since it's their equipment and they will NOT be paying for that lmao

I think it is reasonable that the phone is not just connected to the Forest office. I think that could actually be an issue for emergencies or inter-agency cooperation if the lookout inside the tower was only able to contact the office. Like, in early telecommunications that's probably all they had since they were stringing remote lines together, but for more modern communications I can see it probably being good if you could also dial 911 lol. Also, federal employees generally have some (very) limited personal use of government equipment, so it wouldn't surprise me if he was able to use the phone for (reasonable) domestic calls in his off hours. If he doesn't push it too much by trying to order pizza LOL

I, uh, have no research to back this answer up with. I am just talking based on what sounds reasonable to me

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You put so much research and detail into Incandescence of a Dying Light and it's amazing. Do you have any tips for someone trying to research for a story? One of my characters is an elderly Floridian lifeguard but the best sources I can find are some NYT articles about Long Island lifeguards

Oh thank you! I appreciate that.

As for researching, I think the best way to go about it is to try to research specific parts of your problem. You might not be able to find resources for an elderly Floridian lifeguard, but you can probably find resources for lifeguards, lifeguards in a particular area, and elderly people doing swimming/rescues. I can try to give you some pointers but without knowing your story or specific needs some of these tips might not work. Just use them as a jumping off point! Specific problems can be easier to research than broad problems--unless it's too specific, and then you lose all your results. Researching is a balancing act between those two.

Are they a lifeguard at the ocean, or a pool? If it's the ocean, where in Florida? I'd look up information about the sea currents in that area. That might give you an idea of the kind of risks your lifeguard is looking at, like if they work at a beach in a place known for rip currents or something. That will add some realism and you can probably find resources on what your lifeguard character is looking for. If it's a pool, your job is probably much easier because I have to assume most of the same rules apply for elsewhere.

Is there a specific time period you are looking at? I'm no lifeguard, so anyone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I imagine the profession hasn't changed very much in the past few decades or longer. If someone is a lifeguard in the 80s my gut feeling is that their job is still pretty similar to what it is today. So, that might make your research easier if you can expand the time periods you are looking at. My story is set in 1989 so I'm always looking for info from that time period. But most of what I'm doing is looking at fire lookout resources from the 50s or early 2000s, and then matching the technology in my fic to the late 80s.

I would also look up things like lifeguard handbook, lifeguard skills, lifeguard employee handbook, lifeguard training materials, etc. For example, just by looking up "florida lifeguard" I found the Jacksonville Beach Ocean Rescue Lifeguard Academy, which gives some details about the requirements and steps to become a lifeguard there. Could be useful information. I also found a 400 page Red Cross lifeguarding manual pdf. For more personal information, perhaps add stuff like "interview" to the search? I'm sure you would be able to find people talking about their jobs.

As for your character's age, that might not require much research. Being older does not mean a character can't be fit or strong (but I don't know if you mean 60 or 90 when you say "elderly" and that matters.) You could explore sources about active elderly people too, if you wanted. This will just depend on the details of your character though.

I would also recommend using some advanced search techniques. For example, if you only want examples about Florida, write it as "florida" with the quotes around it, and you'll only receive pages that contain the word Florida. Or, if you want to exclude something that is muddying your search results, put the word with a minus. Tragically at one point during my chapter 8 research i had to add -maui to the search to try and exclude news articles associated with it.

Generally though I would just look for lots of sources of many types, and then add them together. It is unlikely you will find sources that match everything you need. Break down what you need to know into smaller pieces. I may have 20+ tabs open for information that amounts to....a few paragraphs. Vary your search queries a lot, try different key words. My research for Firewatch AU has been helped by the fact that the job involves the federal government, which is great at recordkeeping and often has a lot of publicly available information. Your mileage may vary with other subjects. Watch your sources for accuracy. Or, if you rely on sources from a different location (Long Island vs Florida) be prepared to try and identify and fill in the gaps where there are differences between the locations.

Good luck!