Mike,
The fuse panel can does protrude from the wall about 2-3".. The house wiring entered the fuse box from inside the wall... according to the home owner, some "unqualified person" added the flex to bring 220V to a bedroom for a window A/C unit.. No strapping on the flex, no ground wire, undersized conductors, flex connector not tightened to the fuse box [Linked Image] That is, in fact, the doorbell Xfmr in the bottom right of the fuse box, still working! Looking at the pic with the flex.. The small panel below the fuse box contained a "120V-24V 70W" xfmr for the old furnace!

Sven,
I'd think you'd come across more antiquated electrical parts on your side of the country... I came across alot of funky things I'd never seen before when I lived on Long Island. If you feel like moving to Cali, look me up! [Linked Image] I do know a few people that are hiring apprentices. Unfortunately, the company I work for only hires Journeyman, as we're pretty much on our own with what we come across & how we handle it..
If I get the rewire, there's all kinds of cool things in this house that are going into my collection that ARENT broken [Linked Image] The outlet with the face plate is the same brand as the fuse box (Diamond S) the other one is a prehistoric Leviton..

-Randy