Hi Joe,

There were many side jobs done at DECA that interrupted the work already being done on the B707:

I know that the premies made furniture for both "the residence" and Raja Ji's and Claudia's mansion as well.

These were pieces of furniture that were designed by a premie named Samantha "Sam" (can't remember her last name) who wasn't an ashram premie but an interior designer from Chicago.  They were designed and manufactured for Rawat's and Raja Ji and Claudia's homes in Miami Beach.  The pieces that I saw were coffee tables and side tables and required so many coats of paint (toxic fumes) as well as extensive sanding.  High gloss, finish type of painted furniture (yucky aqua or blue, IMO).

They worked on some of Rawat's cars, as I recall one of his Rolls Royces in the compound at Hialeah.

The "Silver Cloud" Rolls was definitely at the DECA complex (a gorgeous vintage vehicle) that he liked to drive out of the garage on occasion. But it was the grey Mercedes stretch limo that was parked in the middle of the main warehouse area, roped off with velvet (bank or theatre type ropes) and no one was allowed to look into the car (I did).  Some of the seamstresses who were assigned to redo all of the B707 seat upholstering were also assigned to reupholster the seats of the Mercedes stretch.  Rawat had many of his vintage and other luxury cars shipped from Malibu to the Hialeah, Florida DECA complex, once the large garage was fixed up to be his auto workshop (one of the first things done at the Complex). I remember premies from Malibu arriving with tractor-trailers offloading the fleet.  It was a fleet of vintage/luxury cars to be envied by any collector.

They build installed cabinets for M's house on Miami Beach.

Yes, and really much more than just cabinets.

They did some planning and construction for the 1979 Kisimmee swamp festival.

Yes.  And DECA had an office trailor at that festival, but we ashram premies "got to" sleep in tents in the swamp.

I had not heard about the painting, or maybe I forgot if I once knew.

It was definitely more than one painting that Rawat "commissioned" from the ashram premie (don't want to mention her name here).  She's a wonderful artist and he would choose a photo and she'd paint portraits of Shri Hans (on DECA time) for him.

They built that jet-sprayer thing that Rawat used at Holi festival.  Were you there the day he tested it in the courtyeard at DECA?

Actually, I had been out on an errand but, came at the tail end of it.  Those were very powerful water-guns, and one person got knocked out cold and a couple of others were knocked against the brick wall of the courtyard. 

The seamstresses (under the direction of the interior designers, Sam and Nicola) designed and sewed black-out curtains for Miami Beach Residence through-out.  I thought Rawat and his inner circle needed the black out curtains in his home so they could meditate during the day.  lol.  I was soooo gullible!  But, I have to say, the seamstress crew was a great bunch, wonderful folks, and so talented, too.  Very overworked.

The other thing that at least one draftsman was pulled off of the B707 to do was to design another dock for the Miami Beach Residence.

 By that I mean, the less they were treated as human beings, and the more they were treated like pieces of equipment to get Rawat what he wanted.

We were treated like objects and no one really cared about what was happening to anyone healthwise that I know of, until people literally collapsed from exhaustion or illness due to all those chemicals -- then we were sent away to community ashrams and replaced with fresh bodies.  The more Rawat wanted, the more he got, there just was no limit placed upon him.  DECA was his playground and he was the only one who ever got to actually play.