I can actually answer this one more specifically; that is unless there has been a change or two within the Picadilly Circus area since I've been there back in 1985...if not; then if you actually live in London; even in what we Americans might call a subburb of London; then as long as you can get to Picadilly Circus; you should be able to find the American Express office there...you can wire money home from there, and any family you might be wiring to in the US would only need to have either an American Express office in town, or an agent of American Express...for example if your family has a K-Mart in town; I think they do American Express transfers, and I think the fee is still somewhere around $12.50 though don't quote me on that part...You just go up to the counter; tell them you want to wire money home; tell them how much; they will do the conversion rate plus tack the fee on and then tell you how much the total is...

I do have one or two more questions to ask though if no one minds:

1)The TV Tax; is that £100 total or per tv? I ask because right now we have three TV's; so; though we are planning to either sell or give away most of our belongings to make the move less expensive when we are ready to move...once there it will give us a greater idea of how many TV's we can afford for our residence there...

2) We were actually thinking wherever he might work; that we might live in a smaller village nearby so that even though HE might need a car to get to and from work; *though we were also counting the train as part of the public transit*; I would be primarily relying on either a bicycle for my son and I in the village; or our own feet, but just in case we were to live somewhere in London; how easy is it to purchase and use the Oyster card, and how much does it cost? We were thinking about even getting one for each of us while we would be visiting in November as well...

3) The VAT...what types of things do they put the VAT on?

Thanks Again
T. Vandal