thank you everyone for your thoughts and suggestions. As suggested, Voluparts in Atlanta came through with everything, including the heavy casted metal end piece. They had initially not sent it even though i requested it, because "noone has ever broken this piece." Well, when it hit the road, it fractured, so maybe this is a first.
It took a friend and me about 2 hours to replace the cable. I am absolutely not mechanically intuitive, but i would like to be. (just like people who would love to draw, paint, or play a musical instrument but it is simply not that easy). Definitely a two person task, imo. That heavy end piece is weird how it sort of just hangs there with the right tension.
I think that my clutch cable had some additional wear and tear because, a few years ago, the only recognized volvo repair facility in Alaska really messed up when they replaced the transmission. Looks as if i am going to need some driveshaft center bearing work, too. While not happy about this, i am happy that this volvo is still driveable.
The cable that arrived looks exactly like what the ipd folks sell. It fit and appeared at least as durable as the original cable. But, while removing the clutch pedal cable end, i found a piece of duct tape wrapped over the connection. Is that something that volvo applies in Sweden? For the record, i applied another piece, just because it seemed like a good idea.
I'm going for bigger things now....perhaps a timing belt change. Egads. Life skills 101. (p.s. raven 42 is a female animal doctor who struggles to understand other things because there seems to be a lack of quality work in many professions. As i said to one plumber..."If this was a dog, it would have died!")