WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – So many of the people appearing in the pages of Credit Union Times are known for just one thing – the role they play in the credit union industry. But what happens when they're not conducting credit union business? In our new section, Beyond the Job, Credit Union Times will attempt to concisely capture an aspect of the non-work side of credit union leaders. In this second installment of Beyond the Job some Credit Union Times staffers are included as well. Please note, color photos, preferably of the person doing one of their off-work activities, should be submitted. If you have something you would like included in Beyond the Job, contact the Credit Union Times reporter or editor you typically deal with or call Editor Paul Gentile at (561) 683-8515, ext. 10 or e-mail [email protected]. * There's a running joke in the credit union industry that if you attended all the conferences the industry has to offer you'd be gone all year long. Credit Union Times Publisher Mike Welch and his wife Judy are travel buffs themselves, but a lot of it isn't related to credit unions. The globetrotting couple has been to places of the world most people will never go. They've been on a two-week African safari; explored the Amazon River; inched through the Panama Canal; and seen the wonders of China during a three-week trip. Continuing the trend of visiting remote destinations, in early 2003 they will embark on a three-week cruise in Antarctica. They've also been to Europe, Australia, the Mediterranean, and more mainstream destinations. So if you see the Welch's at the airport any time soon, ask them where they're going – it's bound to be somewhere exciting. * When Honda FCU President/CEO Jim Updike isn't running the credit union, you may have to go underwater to track him down. Updike is an avid diver, making about 40 to 50 dives each year. Diving since 1994, most off his dives take place just off the coast of Catalina Island, but he also seeks out unusual dive sites. For instance, when he's out visiting Honda FCU's branches in central Ohio, he'll take his dive gear along and dive in quarries if he has the time. Updike said Lake Meade also provides an interesting dive site. Several of the structures that were created to build the damn are still there, they're just underwater, said Updike. Just recently Updike was able to hear the sounds of whales up close and personal during a dive in Hawaii when a whale that came within three miles of the dive site could be heard by the divers. What's ahead? Well Honda FCU is holding a planning meeting in Key West, Florida, one of the best places in the U.S. to dive. * In Dave Morrison Credit Union Times has its own incredible shrinking reporter. Morrison, once weighing 291 pounds, has spent the last six months trying to slim his waist line – and it's working big time. Morrison is now a svelte 210 pounds. He only has 20 more pounds to go to reach his target weight of 190. The trimmed-down Morrison will put his new body to the test in February when he endeavors on a three-day hiking trip in St. Mary's Wilderness in Southwest Virginia. The hiking enthusiast said the last time he ventured out that way it was so cold his breath melted as ice crystals. * With her kids out of the house Credit Union Times Advertising Manager Laurie Sorrentino is getting to do some of the things she's always had an interest in, but never had the time for. She is now practicing Yoga, taking drawing classes, and learning how to country line dance. Next up for Sorrentino is tai chi classes. With a hopeful eye toward retirement, Laurie and her husband Jim have been taking weekend excursions in Florida looking for just the right spot to retire. Their daughter Keri is attending the University of Central Florida, and their son Michael is in the U.S. Coast Guard.