99.5 automatic transmission

Bought this truck last September and have been pretty dissatisfied with the transmission. This is the first automatic I've ever bought, and I feel like it doesn't shift right, or at least not when I would shift were I driving a 5-speed manual.

There is also a serious lack of power for the crappy gas mileage I'm getting, but that should probably be discussed in a different thread.

Any suggestions as to how I can improve the shifting? Someone at work suggested a chip that would improve hp and fix the shifting problem, but I don't know anything about those.

Other than the transmission, I LOVE this truck! Am actually considering trading up for a 2001 5-speed, since that would probably fix the power and shift problem, but I'd be curious to know if there's a cheaper fix for my current model.

Thanks!