I always like when threads have closure. So I'll post the embarrassing conclusion.

I got fed up and decided to play with the idle screw. The idle screw was opened way up and the idle came down as I screwed it in. I remember now that I had to clean the throttle body and iacv when I bought the car. The other lesson is that the stock ecu has some voodoo magic to control the idle speed if the screw is wide open, probably a necessity for emissions and long term reliability when these cars get gunk in the intake.

It works and has always worked. I live in a place with smog so I was hoping to avoid any changes to the idle screw, but just another thing to address when I swap back.