... and there was much rejoicing.

Well, I passed. The electrical inspector came by Saturday morning. He like what he saw... except that dicey arrangement with the plug for the kitchen stove. The picture at right (looking up at the basement ceiling) shows the plug for the oven which is overhead in the kitchen. The inspector nearly turned on his heels and walked out when he saw this. I quickly explained that this was the handiwork of the previous owner and I had nothing to do with it, but that we will be replacing it when we renovate the kitchen (our next project!). "What kind of ceiling are you putting in?" he asked. Initially I misunderstood his question and started to explain that I would replace it by cutting through the floor from above. Then he reminded me that it is a code violation to have a junction box or any kind of connection in an inaccessible location. Presumably if we had been planning a suspended ceiling then he might have left it at that.
Since we are putting in sheetrock, however, he insisted that the whole arrangement (there is a junction box not visible in the photo) be replaced before the ceiling is put in.
No problem.
The next step was to make the final connections for the laundry area. The main reason we wanted this inspection just for the bathroom/laundry room before the rest of the basement is wired was so that we can set up the washer and drier in their proper places. So right after the inspector left I started wiring up the outlets and switches. Oops... the outlet I had bought for the drier was actually a range outlet. Damn. So I had a trip to the hardware store to add to the day's itinerary. Since I would be working in the main electric panel to connect the three bath/laundry circuits ( the 110/220 drier circuit, the dedicated laundry circuit for the washer, and the general light/receptacle circuit) I figured what the heck, I might as well replace the troublesome oven outlet as well.
So I consulted my reference books for info about requirements for a range outlet. First I noticed that one of the books had conflicting information in the text and in an illustration. Hmmm... So I got out another book and found... yet another variation. A little investigation revealed that the first book not only had an error, it was also published in 1992, but the electric code changed in 1996! Fortunately I had bought that second book (actually I had already owned it, but bought the new edition; good thing! Moral: more books are better.)
Eventually I found the supplies I needed, got the laundry all connected, got the wiring for the stove disconnected, and then quit for the day.
This could have resulted in a disastrous situation: with the stove disconnected, It would have been difficult to make coffee Sunday morning. The solution: a quick run to Dunkin' Donuts. And then I was able to finish wiring up the oven and get back to framing.
The update there: about half the main room is framed now. We are way behind schedule on that, but I should be able to finish up next weekend.