bikeman715, I put it away for a few hours and then looked at it again with 'new eyes'. While I can get a cable to nestle properly, it's a real PIA to remove. It looks like something broke that is preventing the selector to fully home and that is preventing the downshift to index properly (8 to 7 is a bit premature). I can shift through all of the gears, but downshifting is unacceptably stiff (just not going to work with even an aggressive shove with my fingers) while upshifting is now normal.
I think it's just toasted, probably my fault since it isn't my primary bike it will sit for extended periods of time without being used.
Brad