Hello, my name is Dane Baker.  Born in December of 1985, I grew up and continue to live in Northeast Indiana.  I have two wonderful and smart kids with my lovely and supportive wife.  My full-time job, currently, is the daytime custodian at a local elementary school, and before that, I worked construction for eleven years installing commercial flooring.  In March of 2016, I suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm and was hospitalized for 10 days.  Doctors told me that I’m lucky to be alive, and I can honestly say it was life-changing in almost every way.

The thing that changed the most from that experience is my perspective on things such as my health, my family, the future, and what is really important.  So I’ve started eating better, not necessarily healthier, just better.  No need to waste the rest of my life eating bad food.  I also try to spend more quality time with my family.  My wife and I try to focus on doing things that the kids will remember and cherish, as opposed to just buying them things they will break and forget in two weeks.  I try not to plan too far ahead knowing how plans always change no matter what, but I do try to follow an outline.  You know, set some short and long terms goals, work on bettering my family’s lives and well-being, and all the usual things good fathers and husbands do.  Finally, I work on doing things that make me feel happy and fulfilled.  That is part of the reason I took the custodian job, to give back to my community and be a positive role model for some young kids.  I also decided that I’d like to write a book someday, and that’s where Bar Stool Talk comes into play.

My only writing experience is some papers I wrote in high school, back around the turn of the century.  So I thought, I better get some more practice before jumping right into a book.  I played around with a few ideas and decided that bar related subjects would be a good area to explore, study, and write on.  I’m no bar expert by any means, and I don’t spend countless hours holding down a bar stool at my local pub, but I do like to go out with just adults occasionally, and when I do we usually spend some time at a bar or two.  Personally, I prefer a small, dimly lit, filled with regulars kind of bar, my wife enjoys a bar with music and room for dancing, while someone else we’re with might feel that a bar isn’t a bar without bar food.  The point is that all those places are available, and there are a lot of things I can study, explore, and write about.  For example, how does size effect atmosphere, what is the history of live music or jukeboxes,  what are common foods served, and many more questions or interesting topics.

So anyway, I hope you enjoy reading what I find, and maybe learn a thing or two as well.  Also, if you have any topic suggestions, or feel the need to contact me, you can send me an email at barstooltalkwithdane@gmail.com.  Thank you for taking the time to learn a little bit about me, and I hope you enjoy my work.