Surviving Midterms Week (With My Sanity Intact), Winter Cleaning, and Mazda CX-5s

Honestly, I worrying my ass off when it comes to school. Not sure if I should be worrying at all but that’s just me. If I’m over and done worrying about one thing, another dilemma seems to rears its ugly head. It’s late and I’m calling it a night, especially on reading “The General Prologue” of the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. Enough with the “eeks” and “greye as glas” speak. I’m ready to see the insides of my eyelids. But, before I do that, I thought I’d update on how life has been.

When it comes to school, it seems that my financial aid has come through and I’m just going to keep going to keep it. I’m still taking five classes so far and I’m pretty much swamped. I don’t know how people work full-time and go to school full-time. I don’t think you’re any better but whatever it is that you’re doing, good for you. :P I have a midterm paper for an English class on Medieval period literature, a midterm exam on US history, and a final on World History. I have to read about ten ancient English stories by next week and I feel like I am going to die … a very horrible death. I’m ahead in my classes but I feel so behind. When is enough ever enough?

Financial stresses are virtually non-existent but I think I may acquire some new debt because I think I’ve waited long enough to change my apartment. It looks okay now but I really want to paint and throw out sofas, armchairs, Christmas crap, etc. There’s a lot of stuff (I feel like) and I’d like to get all this stuff out by the end of the year. I’m going to U-haul all this crap down the street to Goodwill and call it a day!

I’m still sure that we’ll be getting a car in the first to second quarter of next year and that’s about it for that. I can say I’m a decent driver but my self-doubt is seriously killing me. I just don’t feel confident enough and it’s understandable. So instead of complaining about it, I’m going to make an appointment to start taking driving lessons tomorrow with Lem’s Driving School. I don’t care about the money because I just need a few hours to get my shit straight. Can’t deny me if I’ve got the money, right? I can finally get rid of my permit. The only reason why I wasn’t able to get my license when I was 17 was because after my dad passed away that year, a series of events lead to me not keeping the car that was left to me by my dad. So from then on, I didn’t have a car to practice or use for my test.

When it comes to the car, I’ve considered many models and when me and Pete narrow down to one that could be “the one,” engineering or performance issues surface and we have no choice but to consider other choices out there. I’m comfortable and knowledgeable of the car dealing process so I’m looking forward to doing most if not all of the work. We have the Mazda CX-5 in mind and if I get anything, it’s going to be the high-end model because we love technological packages and because leather is always going to be the best option when it comes to kids. That burns a $30K hole in the wallet but it’s fine because I’m sure we’ll drive it until the wheels fall off. Before then, we’re probably going to add another car to our little family.

I’m going to head to IKEA and Lowe’s either today (Monday) or tomorrow and let’s see what happens. Renovating the office is going to be about $1K-ish. I prefer to paint first before getting the new furniture but Pete has a different opinion on that issue.

I think socially, everyone has been getting along and it’s good that I don’t let my social life interfere with my general psyche these days. I think socializing is more of a recreation for me these days. It’s fun when it happens but I don’t need it to survive. I honestly don’t have any time these days. I even have to make appointments to play video games, which I usually do around this hour because I feel guilty doing it during the daytime when I could be studying. Since I’ll be taking harder classes by each semester after this one, I’m considering toning down on the classes to maybe four a semester and taking one or two classes in the summer to make up for it without the additional mental stress and wear and tear.

I’m probably going to blog later tonight because I need to get into my shopping escapades and how I finally found the right shade of foundation after being incorrectly matched THREE times from a Sephora associate. I’ve been doing a lot of hauls lately but once again, I just don’t have the time for it. I’ll get into my recent weight loss, Alexander McQueen handbags, and whether I should go blonde again or not in subsequent posts. Night and it’s going to be a busy day for me later. One final and a home improvement trip awaits! :)

Unboxing the Google Nexus 7 Tablet

I’d write a thorough review on the technical aspects of the Nexus 7 but I’ve really been too tired so I’ve opted to do a first looks/first impressions instead.

I’ve been waiting patiently for the past two days since ordering the Nexus 7 late that night. It came by earlier in the afternoon yesterday and I was honestly doing my best to not unbox it, but after a few hours of crazy discipline, I cracked it open. Can I say that of all the smartphones, computers, and tablets I have had the pleasure of unboxing, this has got to have the most snug packaging ever … Peter and I like to keep our packaging in mint condition so ripping off the wraparound cover was not an option.

We opted for 16 GB of internal storage as opposed to the 8 GB version because when it comes to a set amount of storage, you never know what you may end up needing. The 8 GB tablet costs $200 while the 16 GB (flash storage by the way) is reasonably offered for only $50 more. Not bad.

After loosening the outer cover with a ruler, the cover gave me some room to push the box out of one end. And I thought my old HTC Thunderbolt was hard to unbox.

After the main box is dealt with, the Nexus 7 is easily lifted out by pulling the tab. Removing the plastic film, we find this:

It has a 1.2 MP front-facing camera and no physical home button.

The power/lock key sits above the volume rocker on the right side of the tablet. The topside is clean and the left side has two microphones, one on top and the other on the bottom, while the bottom side of the tablet has a micro USB port, a standard 3.5 mm audio jack, and the speakers.

The Nexus 7 has a 7″ HD display which has taken a few minutes to get used to. Remember, I’ve been using the iPad for over two years now and although I would prefer a larger display to play Magic Piano with, but reading a book is perfect with the Nexus 7. Although the mere size of the tablet seemed to dampen my interest, the Nexus 7 tablet’s clean and uncluttered interface quickly made up for the mildly impractical design. This is probably the cleanest I’ve ever seen anything Android-related be all because of Jellybean (Android 4.1), the fastest and most fluid version of Android yet. Did I mention this is the first device to have it?

The volume keys and the power key are placed more towards the back of the tablet of the curved side, seemingly hidden from view. While placing the buttons on the curved edge further away from the screen, it prevents issues such as accidental screen locks or the lack of volume control. However, I found it difficult to locate the keys quite frequently as I found myself groping around for the keys. This problem is lessened if you are holding the Nexus 7 in your hand or if it is on a dock but poses a steady annoyance when placed on a flat surface because you would literally have to lift and tilt the tablet to the side in order to find the keys.

The brushed aluminum sides, I suspect, are plastic but that only means no dents just scratches unless you Ghost Armor it (honestly that’s a must for all devices these days). The tablet has a plastic backing that is slightly rubberized providing a decent amount of non-slip support. The rubbery back feels smooth and dimpled and feels very much like suede or leather if you’re paying attention.

I am very much a fan of the choice of material they chose for the back piece. The  unibody piece of an iPad may rank high in aesthetics but the material is notorious for denting easily.

The set up for the Nexus 7 felt simple and intuitive. Setting up the tablet was probably as easy as setting up an Android phone. 

The Nexus 7 comes without the annoying and excessive apps that most users want nothing more to do than remove. When it comes to Android devices, you can’t help but expect the excessive crap apps that can never seem to be removed. A consumer bypasses all of that with a Nexus product. Consider yourself a premium consumer to Google whether you have a Nexus phone or tablet. You won’t find Skype here unless you want it, of course.

The tablet is pre-installed with the typical Google-esque apps such as Maps, Navigation, Google Earth, Chrome, the Play store, Books, Magazine, etc. The Nexus 7 comes with Wallet installed and the great thing about that is you can finally go out without your credit cards, gift cards, and key fobs because Wallet keeps all your information organized and presentable when you need it. And, you can pay with your Nexus 7 at a compatible tap to pay device to pay for your purchase. Stores such as Rite Aid, CVS, Petco, and BP are a few of the many places that support Google Wallet.

I am a fan of the Kindle software from Amazon so although you won’t get the typical perks of having a Kindle, you can always download the Kindle app. I’ve had a lot of fun reading on the Nexus 7 and the Books and Magazines apps provide a lot of customization options. There is an option to keep your Nexus 7 turned when you are reading so I look forward to a dock accessory so I can read in bed while the tablet is on my nightstand. If you’re a fan of real books and are trying to immerse yourself into the digital world of reading, the Nexus 7 equips a realistic feel of a book and it’s especially fun to experiment with the responsiveness of the reading apps. Bookmark your pages, highlight words, and shuffle through pages as slow or fast as you desire.

The widget screen. Just slide to the side to the side to close your background apps.

I decided to run a few light benchmarks as well.

Vellamo 1.0.6:

Am3DNenchXL:

Speedtest.net

Final Thoughts

I am quite impressed although I wasn’t sure what to think of it at first. I can live with 720p and the fact that it’s a Nexus device makes it the ideal Android product to have since you’ll always get the updates first and you shouldn’t expect your operating system to be outdated any time soon.

Although it’s equipped with Corning scratch-resistant glass, the makers of Gorilla Glass, I’m careful regardless. You won’t ever see me doing the key test on any device.

The graphics are sharp, vivid and immersive. I haven’t experienced any hiccups or lags so far but I will update in a few months.

I don’t do much gaming on tablets unless you consider The Sims 3 Free Time gaming. I had an LG G2x (Optimus) smartphone (it was the first dual-core smartphone) with NVIDIA Tegra 2. All I can say is that it included aesthetically pleasing hardware with class-leading performance with a minimal amount of battery consumption. The Nexus 7 tablet comes equipped with a 1.2GHz Tegra 3 quad-core processor and 1 GB of RAM.

Overall, I’m content with this purchase. I don’t feel like I overpaid at all and it’ll come in handy when I need entertainment on the run since it only weighs 12 ounces.

The Nexus 7 tablet is snappy, smooth, and a true competitor in the $200 range of top-notch tablets. The prices of tablets will only continue to drop while the quality gets better. It is definitely something you want to buy. It’s light, discreet, weighs less than the Kindle Fire, and isn’t even half of an inch (0.41 in.). If you’ve been eyeing a tablet and particularly Android tablets, go for it.

There is a 15 day return policy and the Google Play customer service is fast and you never have to talk to a machine. The direct line for all Nexus related issues is 855-83-NEXUS (63987). The website is as uncluttered as Jellybean is and Google is working hard to fine tune and tweak every aspect of the current website to bring you a more fluid experience so don’t be surprised if you go to the website and find that it’s changed overnight.

The 16 GB version was made available earlier this week and I really suggest you get it. It’s truly an amazing package.