Update: Ding Ding Ding! Winner!
Had to wait for the weather to clear up so it took a bit of time to get out and do the TV cable adjustment. Only took a couple of minutes to do and man, was it satisfying. Went for a test drive after that and it seemed like it had more power. Bottom line is that it felt a lot more responsive. Under full throttle the shifts were a few hundred RPM below red line on the tach. Under low/moderate throttle the shifts seemed to hit around 2300 or so RPM. It DOES seem to downshift at the drop of a hat from OD but I consider that a minor detail.
Many thanks to all. Adjusting the TV cable would never have crossed my mind. I was thinking plugged catalytic or something.
Now it's on to fixing the electric windows and locks, as well as the cruise control. Yippee!

Cool.
thanks for the update
And since you asked..

https://www.walkerexhaust.com/suppor...c-testing.html

The shift points are not controlled by the throttle cable, but rather the TPS and output shaft sensor speed. The cable does control shift firmness and way out of adjustment can make shifts sluggish or overly harsh, and makes a subjective difference in the seat of the pants feel. If they're shifting different, I'd test the TPS.