Ben, thank you for the reply. I've read the thread you mentioned, great info I will start using.

I just tested again, pH looks good, still at 7.8, but chlorine is just about all gone by now, I guess as expected.
The good news is that the slimeiness is also gone completely.

The only issue I still have as I asked above is I'm still not sure as to how to administer the chlorine granulars into the pool... Can you or someone else please recommend a method? Can I just fill the sock or something like that with it and hang it in the pool?

As for the good test kit, I totally hear your comments and completely agree, but I just can't justify spending close to $100 box on the kit where I only spent $80 on the pool itself haha. The hth-6 kit will just have to do for now. Now once, I get the pool put in next spring as I'm planning, no expense will be spared for sure!