[Fat Charlie]

I don't like that rough shift you mentioned in your first post, although it could just be that it wants you to match revs a bit before engaging. That's fair enough, and blipping the throttle to pick it up to driving speed is still much better on gas than engine braking the whole time.

Don't do anything you're not comfortable with. No sense damaging anything here, but if the problem persists, get it checked out. A trans problem isn't going to go away just because you stop doing what helped you notice it, and ATs are evil black boxes that hide mysterious ailments.