Some janitors see their jobs as dead-end drudgery, but Joe Arruda and Maria Adcock are not among them. The Azores-born Bermudians not only love their work, but take enormous pride in what they do.

"City Hall is our daytime home, and we like to keep it looking nice," they say.

"Keeping it nice" is a deceptively simple term for the myriad responsibilities their multi-faceted job entails, and one which some would liken to painting the Golden Gate Bridge. By the time they work their way through their weekly routine of polishing floors, furniture, cedar work, elevator doors and brass; cleaning the bathrooms, windows and basement changing rooms; and vacuuming miles of carpeting it is time to start all over again.

What keeps the job interesting for this team is their genuine love of cleaning coupled with the satisfaction of knowing that if City Hall was subjected to a "white glove test", it would pass with flying colours.

When it is possible to walk into a building at any time of the day or evening and find a gleaming, waxed and polished foyer floor; cedar banisters, panelling and doors glowing with a soft patina; immaculately groomed carpeting, sparkling bathrooms, and not a piece of litter in sight you know that a great deal of care has gone into the building's public appearance. Few, however, realise that it is all done by just two people.

Behind the scenes, Mrs. Adcock ensures that the Mayor's Parlour and the Corporation offices are immaculate, as well as the public and private ladies' rooms, the Mayor's box and reception room behind it, and also the theatre. She also helps her team-mate whenever needed.

Like Mr. Arruda, she knows what cleaning materials are best for the many different surfaces she has to deal with, and when and how often to apply them.

When the theatre is in use, be it for rehearsals or performances, the auditorium floor and carpeting are cleaned daily - a process which also includes polishing each and every seat arm: a total of more than 600. While food and beverages are officially banned inside the theatre, the rules are occasionally ignored, which can also mean clearing up things like candy wrappers, crisps crumbs and even spilled drinks.

When it comes to the Mayor's box, Mrs. Adcock ensures that this is not only sparkling clean, but when in use, that sufficient chairs are provided for his guests; that the hospitality cupboard is properly stocked; ice is in place; and the glasses, bathroom and kitchenette are immaculate.

At evening's end, however, she simply turns the key until the next morning when everything will be put right again, for in addition to her regular working day (8.30 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Mrs. Adcock is also the official Night Supervisor. This means that, whenever City Hall is in use after 5 p.m. it is her responsibility to remain on duty until the very last person has left, at which time she checks the building to ensure that no-one is left inside before locking all of the doors, turning out the lights, and heading for home.

"During rehearsals for shows it can be 1 a.m. or 1.30 a.m. before I leave, and I still have to be back on the job at 8.30 the next morning," she says.

If there is a perk to these long working days it is that Mrs. Adcock gets to watch pre-performance (dress) rehearsals because, when it's showtime and the main doors are open, she has to keep a watchful eye everywhere else to ensure that no-one who should not be in the building goes undetected. In this role, she has become a familiar figure in her evening finery, complete with sparkling jewellery, perfectly coifed dark curls and bright smile, meeting and greeting a host of patrons, many of whom know her by name. In fact, Mrs. Adcock has become a perfect ambassador for the Corporation of Hamilton.

Even after 17 years' service, the mother and grandmother remains a cheerful worker whose humour and helpful ways make her a delight. She takes a philosophical approach to her duties, and has no problem adjusting to "changes of command".

Like Mr. Arruda and her other colleagues, Mrs. Adcock "loves" Mayor Mapp and thinks Corporation treasurer Roger Mello is "a very nice man and a good boss".

Of course, no job is perfect, and the one thing that really bothers this long-serving employee is the unpleasant mess women sometimes leave behind in her pristine Ladies' Room.

"Oh god," she exclaims, throwing her hands up. "It's everything from soiled paper towels left around to (excrement) on the floor."

Not surprisingly, with such a huge area and so many responsibilities to cover, the duo have a regular routine to ensure that everything gets done. Only when one is on holiday are some of the less important tasks suspended or modified.

While they do work as a team, Mr. Arruda also has certain duties of his own. These include raising and lowering the Union flag on City Hall lawn every week day; cleaning the windows; waxing and polishing the lobby and other floors; oiling the cedarwork, picture frames, and more. A tall ladder and a cloth-covered broom are used to dust the drapes at the 11-foot windows in the Mayor's parlour and also to remove cobwebs from high places. The friendly janitor is also responsible for gathering and removing daily trash from the building; and every other day he can be seen, rubber-booted, vacuuming algae from City Hall pond and pulling out the trash. In fact, the latter is a bane of his existence.

Discarded food, chicken bones, take-away boxes and food wrappers are a regular feature, particularly on Saturdays, as well as a host of beer bottles discarded by vagrants.

Mr. Arruda also feeds the fish in the pond - a populace also well known to a thieving heron, who stops by occasionally to partake of a fresh, finny breakfast - and he also sets the daily height of the fountains to ensure passers-by aren't sprayed.

Asked to define the worst aspect of his job is, the conscientious father of three says it is the vagrants who not only abuse the men's room, but also use the back entrances to City Hall as toilets.

"Oh, oh, oh please," he grimaces, clutching his head. "They (defecate) everywhere; they shave; they bring a face cloth and hand towel and wash themselves, throwing water everywhere. It's a big problem. Sometimes I have to get the City Ranger to get them out. Outside, it's also bad, and I have to get a bucket and scrub it all up."

Dust blowing in from the street through the open lobby doors is a constant problem, which means regular dusting, including the mayors' portraits, while rain storms mean putting out special carpeting to absorb soggy footsteps, and mopping up puddles from dripping umbrellas and rain gear. Big, windy storms mean clearing leaves and debris from the front steps.

Mr. Arruda's working day begins at 7 a.m. when he performs such timely chores as polishing the lobby floor before the building opens to the public. Thereafter, he settles into his daily routine until 5 p.m. His many responsibilities include replacing light bulbs in the chandeliers, for which he uses a tall ladder to access (and polish) the big brass ones in the Mayor's parlour, while the huge wooden ones in the lobby have to be hand-lowered from the ceiling on chains, and also dusted.

Although the janitor has been with the Corporation for just under four years, he is a popular employee who enjoys his work, his colleagues, the charming Mayor, and Mr. Mello.

"I like the whole job," he says. "Mr. Mapp is so nice and friendly to everybody, and I've never seen a young man like Mr. Mello. He is very smart and a very nice boss."

Christmas is Mr. Arruda's favourite time of year, and here he reveals a surprising talent: he loves decorating the huge trees which adorn the Mayor's parlour, the lobby, and the Corporation offices. Sometimes he receives basic guidance on a colour scheme, but choosing the decorations and putting them up is left to him.

"Last year the Mayor was sick, so I was told to make his tree bright and cheerful," Mr. Arruda says. "So everything was white. This year, I don't know..."

"But they will be beautiful, he is so good," Maria assures.

It takes Mr. Arruda a total of four days to decorate all three trees because they are so huge.

"I have always liked Christmas decorating ever since I was a child in the Azores," he says. "There I used to make the nativity scene in the house, and I still do it at home today."

Since neither has any plans to retire, it seems that the Church Street landmark will continue to shine thanks to two dedicated employees who are proud to call City Hall home - at least during working hours.