Getting there?

Hey, good job!

No need to "burn off FC," that a bit of a waste. You are good to swim up to slam levels. Many of us run our pools "hot," meaning that we run at the top end of the recommended range. We do this so that if we have a high demand day, we never get close to minimums. If I hit minimums for a day, my pool will start to cloud.

No need to worry about TA. Just manage pH to have a first number that starts with 7. As pH rises naturally, and you add Muriatic Acid to reduce pH, your TA will naturally come down.

You should open the cover every couple days for 15-30 minutes, but that is to allow the CC to burn off.

By recommended level of chlorine he meant: FC/CYA Levels

Yes, use pool math, and let's target 60. Let's confirm after the process to 60...then we can up to 70.

Put your conditioner/stabilizer (make sure it is 100% CYA) in a sock and tie it off. Put it in your skimmer and let sit for 30 minutes. Then start sqeezing! It will all come out. It won't hurt you. After it softens about 30 minutes, I can squeeze 7lbs in about 30 minutes. Or just sqeeze every so often. It will take 24 to 48 hours to distribute after it is gone from the sock. Ask me how I know.

Keep an eye on your salt cell if you can see the plates. Running a high TA can create conditions in your cell to form scale.
I too have high TA source water 160ppm and found things much better after I lowered my pH into the low 7s and dropped my TA into the 50-60ppm range.
Test your source water for TA and CH and if high realize every top off will drive these up so counter as needed.