Your phone & tablet
- Making the text bigger and the ringer louder
- Why your phone went silent (it's usually one setting)
- Voicemail that actually works
- Silencing the spam callers
- FaceTime with the grandchildren, start to finish
Sound familiar?
If you've said any of these out loud, you're in the right place.
- “My phone rings and I can't hear it. I don't know what I pressed.”
- “It says the storage is full and I don't know what that means.”
- “I got a text saying my account was suspended. Is that real?”
- “My daughter set it up and now I'm afraid to touch anything.”
- “I have five hundred photos and I can't find the one I want.”
- “The doctor's office keeps telling me to check MyChart. I don't know what MyChart is.”
- “I asked my grandson and he fixed it in four seconds without telling me how.”
What we help with
Whatever's on the table, we'll look at it.
There is no such thing as a question too small. If it's bothering you, it's worth a visit.
Photos
- Finding the picture you're thinking of
- Sending photos to your family
- Clearing out what you don't need
- Making an album worth keeping
- Printing a photo the way you remember printing photos
Email & messages
- Getting into an account you're locked out of
- Taming an inbox with 12,000 unread
- Group texts — how to leave one, how to not reply to everyone
- Voice-to-text, if the keys are too small
- Setting up mail on a new device
Computers & printing
- Printers that won't print
- Word documents, letters, labels
- Opening the PDF the doctor sent
- Wi-Fi that keeps dropping
- A new computer, set up properly, from the start
Staying safe online
- Telling a real message from a fake one
- The grandparent scam, and how to hang up on it
- Passwords you can actually keep track of
- What to do if you already clicked
- Shopping and banking without the worry
Doctors, portals & video visits
- MyScripps and MyUCSDChart — getting in, and staying in
- Finding your test results, and reading what the doctor wrote
- Requesting a prescription refill without phoning
- Linking your Scripps and UCSD records so they're in one place
- Giving your son or daughter proxy access, if you want them to have it
- Zoom and video visits — camera, microphone, and a dry run beforehand
Everything else
- Streaming: Netflix, YouTube, the remote with 40 buttons
- Zoom with the grandchildren, not just the doctor
- Smart speakers and reminders
- Backing things up so they're not lost
- Whatever it is. Ask.
How it works
Three steps, and none of them are complicated.
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You call or write to us
Tell us what's going on, in whatever words you have for it. “The thing won't work” is a perfectly good description. We'll figure out the rest together.
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We come to you
Your table, your Wi-Fi, your device. That's where the problem actually lives, and it's where it gets solved. Most visits take about an hour.
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You leave knowing how
We don't fix it over your shoulder and disappear. You do it yourself while we're sitting there, and we leave you a written note — in large print — of exactly what we did.
Our promises
You should be careful about who you let near your devices. So let's be plain.
A lot of people who target older adults look friendly and helpful. We know that, and we'd rather say the quiet part out loud than have you wonder.
- We will never ask you to pay with a gift card, a wire transfer, or an app. Nobody legitimate ever will.
- We will never call you out of the blue and tell you something is wrong with your computer.
- You type your own passwords. We don't write them down, and we don't keep them.
- You'll know the price before we start. If we can't help you, you don't pay.
- You're welcome to have a family member on speakerphone for the whole visit. We like it when you do.
What it costs
No packages, no contracts, no surprises.
One rate, told to you on the phone before we ever knock on the door.
We sort out what's urgent, fix what we can, and leave you a written note — in large print — of what we did.
Only if you want to keep going. Most visits are done in an hour. No travel charge anywhere in La Jolla.
Our monthly drop-in workshop at local retirement communities. Bring your device and a question. No charge, ever.
You'll know the price before we knock on the door. If we can't help you, you don't pay. We take checks, or Venmo and Zelle if that's easier for your family.
For activities & life enrichment directors
We'll run a free Tech Help Hour at your community.
One hour, once a month. Ten minutes of a single useful topic taught to the room — how to spot a scam text, how to make everything bigger, how to find a photo — and then open troubleshooting for whoever brings a device.
Residents leave with a large-print handout. You get a program that fills the room and doesn't cost you anything. We've worked inside a senior community, so we know the difference between a good activity and one that empties out after ten minutes.
Get in touch about scheduling one — we're currently booking in the La Jolla area.
Helping a parent from a distance?
You're probably the one reading this. Not them.
You live somewhere else. You've been trying to fix your mother's phone over the telephone for two years. You've had the conversation about the scam calls more than once, and it didn't go well.
- Arrange it with us, not with them. Call, tell us what's going on, and we'll take it from there. You don't have to talk your parent through booking anything.
- We'll write to you afterward. A short note, in plain English: what was wrong, what we did, what to watch for. No jargon, no invoice-speak.
- We can set up MyChart proxy access so you can see appointments and results too — if your parent wants that. We'll ask them, not you.
- We'll tell you the truth about the scam calls. If someone's been getting them, or has already clicked something, you'll hear it from us plainly.
One thing worth knowing: we treat your parent as the client. We won't install anything to watch them, and we won't go behind their back — and that's not us being difficult. It's the reason it works.
When someone clicks a scam link, they tell us. They very often don't tell their children, because they're embarrassed. Being the person they aren't embarrassed in front of turns out to be worth more to you than any monitoring software would be.
We'll keep you in the loop. We'll just do it in front of them.
Who we are
You should know who's coming to your door.
We're a small family business — two of us, with more than thirty years in software between us. Not a call centre, not a rotating cast of contractors.
Lana
I come to every visit.
Twenty-five years building websites and software — Ralph Lauren, Restoration Hardware, Quiksilver. I taught myself all of it.
These days most of the people I help are in their eighties and nineties. That's how this started: the ringer that went silent, the photos that vanished, the text that looked like the bank but wasn't.
For the stubborn problems I bring my son, who does this for a living. I'm there either way.
The same person, every time. I come to every visit, so you're never handed off to someone new. And if anyone ever turns up at your door claiming to be from Tech Together and you weren't expecting them, don't let them in — call me.
Questions
Things people ask before they call
Do you come to my home?
Yes. Your house, your apartment, or your unit in a retirement community. We work on your device, at your table, on your Wi-Fi — because that's where the problem actually lives.
What if my question is very basic?
Good. Those are our favorite ones, and they're the ones people are most embarrassed to ask. There's nothing here too small, and we will never make you feel foolish for asking.
Will you need my passwords?
Sometimes, to fix an email account or an Apple ID. You type them — not us. We don't write them down and we don't keep them. If you'd feel better changing a password afterward, we'll help you do that too.
How much does it cost?
$100 for the first hour, then $50 for each additional half hour if you want to keep going. Most visits are done in an hour. No travel fee anywhere in La Jolla, and if we can't help you, you don't pay.
Can you help my parent while I live out of state?
Yes, and it's a lot of what we do. We can arrange everything with you, work with your parent in person, and send you a short plain-English note afterward about what we did and what to watch for. The same person comes to every visit, so your parent is never handed off to a stranger.
Can you help me with MyChart or MyScripps?
Yes, and it's one of the most useful visits we do. We'll get you logged in, show you where your test results live, set up prescription refills, and — if you'd like — link your Scripps and UCSD records so they're all in one place. We can also set up proxy access so a son or daughter can see your records too, if that's something you want.
If you'd rather they didn't have access, that's your call and nobody else's. We'll never set that up without you saying so.
I have a video visit with my doctor. Can you make sure it works?
Yes — and please don't wait until ten minutes beforehand. We'll come out ahead of time, check your camera and microphone, do a practice call, and write down the steps in large print so you're not fighting the technology while you're trying to talk to your doctor.
What if you don't answer when I call?
Leave a message. We return every call — usually the same evening, and always within one business day. That's a promise, not a hope. If we don't pick up during the day it's because we're sitting at someone's kitchen table, which is exactly what we'd be doing for you.
What areas do you serve?
La Jolla and the surrounding neighborhoods — Bird Rock, Pacific Beach, University City, and Del Mar. If you're a little further out, call and ask.
Get in touch
Let's get it sorted out.
The easiest thing is to call. We won't always pick up — we're usually sitting at someone's kitchen table — but we return every call. Usually the same evening, always within one business day. If you'd rather write, fill this in instead.
That last one asks three simple questions — no typing until the end — and tells you what's probably going on before you ever speak to us.
or write to us