Building Code Be Damned in the 1-2-1-8-OH MY

In the course of my adventures, I visit a fair amount of older houses in Troy New York (12180 etc) and surrounding areas. But there is something about the unique building, rebuilding, renovating, and jerry-rigging in the Troy area (including Brunswick) - a style and dare I say, architectural abandon paired with wanton disregard for anything that smacks remotely of sensible, sane, and Code, that leads to all kinds of inventive configurations that put safety a distant third and make you wonder WTF was the DIY'er thinking at the time of install because it wasn't what they *should* have been thinking.

So without further ado, my most recent find that somehow captures everything you need to know about "TROY built". This Old House it Ain't. Only Rehab Addict with Nicole Curtis (DIY network/ and most recently HGTV) comes close to the kind of maniacal yet utilitarian approach to construction in the Collar City and it's suburbs.

Some would call this character. Others, Bathtub Russian Roulette. So, do you feel lucky?

By the way, this is now the wall opposite the light switch in the bathtub enclosure. A similar fate shall soon befall the other walls as some order gets restored, and the electric gets moved to a less dicey region of the bath.