A few questions about Renishaw probing, and adjusting for stock

I have a multi-part question. Firstly, I have a Matsuura HMC with a Renishaw RMP60 probe. In the past, at other shops, I recall being able to write a simple probing routine, and being able to send a MACHINE coordinate to either a work offset via renishaw S#, fanuc offset variables (#7003, #7023, etc), or just to the regular variables (#500, etc). That shop had probes in every machine. I changed jobs, and now work at a shop which had zero probes, however as they buy new machines, they're always equipped with probes. When I try doing the same thing, I'm only able to output the absolute coordinate based on whatever offset I'm in. I called our Renishaw reseller, and they say you can't do it. However another coworker seems to remember being able to do the same thing. Are we both remembering totally wrong?

My other question involves a part with varying thickness. We have been receiving stock, varying in thickness from 1.5"-1.75". Unfortunately, customer needs parts, so for the time being, we must make do. I am facing off the excess material with a high feed mill. I would like to be able to probe the face of the material, and adjust the Z start, and number of passes via a macro loop program. I know it's possible, as I've done something similar, but unfortunately due to the urgency of the part, I need some guidance. I use macro's so infrequently, that it seems I need to re-learn everytime I use them again. Any help to get me headed the right direction would be a huge help.

Thank you!