what would the reboot look like? When I press vol down and power, the lying down android comes on the screen in less than 10 seconds, and I'm back to where I started Sorry to sound like a newb, but this just isn't making sense to me.

For information's sake, I am following directions from nexus support site:

http://support.google.com/nexus/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=2668187&topic=2665203&ctx=topic

I cannot get past step 3, I never see the android with the red triangle 

1.If your tablet is on, power it off. done
2.Press and hold Volume Up + Volume Down + Power until the device powers on. You should see an image of an Android lying on its back. done
3.Press Volume Down twice, until the screen says "Recovery mode." done
4.Press Power to restart into "Recovery mode." I do this and the screen changes to black with white "Google" You should see an image of an Android with a Red triangle after a few minutes. have waited up to 15 minutes, maybe "few" minutes is more than that??
 5.While holding down Power, tap Volume Up
 6.Use the volume keys to scroll to "wipe data/factory reset" and press Power to select it
 7.Scroll down to "Yes - erase all user data" and press Power to select it

I have posted to the help forum here and gotten helpful replies, that basically suggest the above steps and/or changing the gmail account password, but I am pretty certain that password is totally separate from the tablet.

I have also called Nexus support and was on hold for 25 minutes before I was disconnected.
And I emailed Nexus support, but haven't received a response yet.

Thanks for the replies, suggestions, and offers of assistance. I am still open to any more ideas.

OK only had my N7 for one day, but have forgotten the logon password...I am sure doing a factory reset is the easiest solution, but directions on the only site I can find are not working ... they seem to be written for the nexus phone
Any ideas where else I can look?