Fixed the loading problem
I thought I had it fixed when I turned off the Dynamic PHP Sdebar (Inspector - Settings - Advance) and turning off the tag could (Inspector - Settings - Tags). I still use tags, so I leave the "Enable box" checked.
But the final bit of the fix is in Categories (Inspector - Settings - Categories). I unchecked the "Show post count." I did one final "Re-Publish All Files (under the File menu) and let it load. Then I checked the entries for today's date and hit the Publish button. It only took 30 or 40 pages instead of the 2900+ it has been taking. Exporting the files still takes a bit, but this really speeds up the loading time.
Just to make sure it doesn't happen on this site, I turned off the "Show post count" here too.