Newbie in the California Desert

Hi there. New here as well. Just ordered my test kit through your link to Amazon.
Just dumped my pool and had it acid washed and refilled. Cyanuric acid levels and total alkalinity levels were very high thats why we dumped it. I was told by the pool store that pools here need to be dumped every couple of years. I'm new to this area and am used to a vinyl pool in a northeastern climate. I'm trying to get a handle on what normal maintenence is for a concrete pool in this area.

I've never had to use muriatic acid before. Any input on what I should generally be doing as far as weekly maintenence goes would be appreciated. I also filled out the pool questionaire.
Thanks.

It's possible the pool needed to be dumped. It's equally possible that you've just been 'pool-stored'.

When you get your K2006, test your pool . . . and then test the pH, alk, and calcium hardness of your fill water. Report those values.

There's a guide to using muriatic acid in my blue signature block.

So my kit was delivered today but it was all trashed inside. Powder everywhere so I had to send it back.
Should I be trying to get my stabilizer levels up?

If you haven't already sent it back, test the CYA levels first.

But in general:

=> If you have CYA < 20 ppm, you'll lose all your chlorine in a single day of sun -- regardless of your pool's chlorine level.
=> If you have CYA > 100 ppm, it will take several days for chlorine to drop noticeably -- unless you have algae or high swimmer load.