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Maybe it's reporters' frustration as they struggle to squeeze another day's worth of news from the warehouse that has become the center of New Mexico politics this week, but the place takes a beating.

The site of Bernalillo County's closely watched and highly publicized vote count has been described in these pages as a "rented warehouse," which it is, as if that were some sort of insult.

Others have described the work going on there as a "dreary" task carried out by "bean counters."

For the record, by early this morning Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson led Democratic state Attorney General Patricia Madrid by 1,481 votes, 104,857 to 103,376.

For the hundred or so people who arrived at the warehouse Friday morning to count ballots, thank you very much, the warehouse offers something that isn't always easy to find: a decent day's work that a person can take a little pride in.

"For temporary work, it's a pretty good job," said 21-year-old Tara Serna, standing in the sun in front of the warehouse during an 11 a.m. break.

"It's a lot of hours," she laughed.

Serna, like most of those counting and canvassing ballots, is a temporary employee hired by the Bernalillo County Clerk's Office to work through the election. Those employees earn $9.80 an hour, plus overtime, County Clerk Mary Herrera said.

Serna said most of the employees tend either to be in her age group or around retirement age.

"It's a good mix," she said. "Everybody gets along real well."

Reporters aren't allowed inside the counting area, where workers sit on both sides of long folding tables, with election officials and partisan poll watchers hovering over their shoulders.

Occasionally, a worker will raise his or her hand, or sometimes a worker can be seen crossing the room carrying a mail basket filled with manila envelopes.

Poll worker Bill Watkins offered a glimpse inside that quiet world of mysterious signals and activities.

Arriving at the warehouse, each employee is assigned a partner for that day's work, which has now turned to canvassing, a sort of postelection audit that certifies the results.

If one partner needs a break, both workers must leave their workstation. Any political party-assigned poll watchers must also leave the work area.

"We try to take a break every couple hours to stay fresh," Watkins said.

No food or drinks are allowed in the vote counting area except bottled water, which must be kept on the floor.

Workers get an hour for lunch but must fend for themselves. A McDonald's, a Wendy's and a Panda Express are all near the building at 1551 Mercantile Road N.E., off Monta¤o Road and across the street from PetSmart.

Employees are settling in to normal nine-hour days.

"Everyone should be getting plenty of rest," Watkins said.

As Watkins stubbed out his cigarette and returned, with his partner and a poll watcher, to the vote counting room, he passed through a lobby occupied by party officials and reporters.

Most of the reporters appeared desperately bored and tended to circle around newly arriving officials like . . . well, let's say like scavenging eagles.

Enrique Carlos Knell, campaign manager for Wilson, said he is fully confident Wilson's narrow lead would hold up as the count turns to the nearly 4,000 remaining provisional and other ballots. Officials say the work will continue this weekend, and perhaps into next week as well.

"It just doesn't make sense this is taking so long," Knell complained. "Democrats may be willing to accept incompetence, but we aren't."

Races in nine other House districts across the county also remain undecided. Four of those races, like New Mexico's, are awaiting the results of provisional ballots.

Madrid spokeswoman Heather Brewer also stopped by the warehouse around noon. She barely got out of her car before she heard the word "concession."

No, she said, there wasn't going to be one.

"This is about counting votes," Brewer said. "It's not about what any campaign might say."

Joey Diaz, 22, acknowledged the work gets tedious at times.

But, he said, it is a chance to see how the system works. The more he saw of the process, Diaz said, the more confident he grew.

"There's so many checks and balances in there," he said. "If anything isn't right the first time, it's going to get caught."