so i think i have it figured out.
there appears to be a water leak problem in that boot behind the battery, and the car sat for over a month, so some water came in, and got inside the ECU.
i have a replacement ECU and programming scheduled for this week. I'll report back this weekend if everything is back to normal.

 

As soon as I read that you had no CEL at any point if the ignition cycle I was going to suggest the ECU may have gone bad. Good luck.

 

update: it was indeed the ECU. i was lucky and found an identical part # ECU at a salvage auto place for $105 shipped. had a local mobile programmer stop by and program it for $150.
so all in $255. not bad at all! fires up, and everything is good.