COLD LAKE - You get a sense of Tim Ebl's and Ryan Hanson's new book, Toolbox Talk, with just a quick glance at the small print on their copyright and disclaimer page. It reads: "By going past this point, you accept all blame for anything that happens for all time. You agree that Ryan Hanson and Tim Ebl are blameless (and you are full of blame) for any and all damages caused by reading this book."
Ryan Hanson, who resides in Cold Lake, posed with a wrench in his mouth for this article. He explains, "It's a rubber prop wrench. No teeth were harmed." Tim Ebl, who lives in Rocky Mountain House, says because he has "a face for radio" he would decline submitting a picture. Their humorous personalities can be found throughout their new book.
What started with a person from Lloydminster telling Ebl he should write a book, snowballed into the friends writing two books together - both contain crazy tales from the trade industry. Ebl describes these stories as "reality inspired fiction."
Ebl says, "We work well together. Collaboration makes things go easier. This leads to a fun read." Hanson adds, "We tell stories a bit differently and this breaks up the tone of the book."
Although they describe the stories as funny, tall tales about crazy situations, the new book ends with a serious story about mental health.
"We need to talk a little more about mental health. If you can't shed light on it, it festers away in the dark. Pay attention to your fellow human beings, it might help someone," says Ebl.
The former co-workers wrote the second book between July 2022 and January 2023. Toolbox Talk is a follow-up to their first book, Cautionary Tales (2022).
The newest book is twice as thick as the first book. The book is a resharing of stories told to them at work, or over the phone by coworkers or people they knew in the trades, mostly from Alberta. But there are stories from British Columbia and Ontario as well. The names and locations of those involved have been changed.
The authors say it was fun to write the book together; re-reading each other's stories, and editing.
Hanson and Ebl started out thinking their main audience would be other people working in the trades, but their editor encouraged them to write with a broader audience in mind. Although this involved some rewriting, and the addition of a glossary, they liked the results, and so do others who are reading it.
"Some of our coworkers have devoured the book," says Hanson.
If or when they do write another book, Hanson already has an addition in mind, which is a story about trades people and their love of hockey. He calls it "outlandishly funny, and it comes out of left field."
The book can be purchased online through Amazon and can also be borrowed from the Cold Lake Public Library. On Father's Day, Hanson was in Calgary at Edworthy a park attending “Footsteps for Fathers,” an event for the Canadian Centre for Men and Families, and some of the previous proceeds from the book are being donated to the cause.
"This book is like a great mixed tape. Some stories are lighthearted, some are funny," says Hanson. His favourite stories include Russ and the Magic Bus, Smoke Pit Confessions, and a story about a sandwich on a thumb entitled, Safety Sideshow Bob Shows Me How to Break a Windshield.
Ebl's favourite is the second story in the book - one about drug testing.
