A/T skipping 1st gear

My '94 Accord LX never had a transmission problem before but today, 
after a short stop, I had a hard time getting the car rolling. It was as 
if you tried to start a manual transmission car in the 3rd gear. So the 
1st and possibly even the 2nd gear was skipped. Also, the A/T speed 
indicator in the instrument panel was fla****ng the #4 gear position. 
According to the official Honda Service Manual this blinking means that 
the TCM senses an abnormality in the input or output systems and the 
exact nature of the problem could be diagnosed only by reading a special 
code from the service check connector. Unfortunately I don't have that 
code reading tool, so it looks like Monday I'm going to have to take the 
car to a shop that hopefully won't tell me to have the whole A/T 
replaced for more than the car is worth. In the meantime I wonder if 
anybody experienced similar situation and could fill me in how it was 
resolved.

DB