Hi Matt, and welcome to the forum!
Until Ben upgrades your status, you can always search the forum using the Google search link in my sig, which is actually better than the vbulletin search feature. Take some time and read as much as you can here and at our sister site, Poolsolutions.com. There's a TON of info here, and it can be overwhelming at first, but eventually it will begin to make sense and you'll realize that pool care really isn't hard, and doesn't have to be expensive or time-consuming.
What type of test kit are you using? I'll tell you up front that we don't put any confidence in strip testing...we highly recommend a drop-based test kit. The best one around for the money is the Taylor K-2006 (NOT the 2005) . It can be ordered from the Amazon link in my sig, and the forum actually gets a donation from the order.
If the pool guy used pucks, it is very common for your CYA to be very high. In that case, you have two options--either drain/refill some of the water to lower it, or just raise the chlorine levels to compensate. (See the "best guess" chart linked in my sig for that).
Anyway, welcome to the group--read around the site, and feel free to post whatever questions you may have!
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