how do you read the temp gauge?

Hey everyone, i was wondering how you read the temp gauge on an 04 alero. I just got it back from the dealer and he said that without the a/c on the car idling the temp gets up to about 218 and then drops back down to 210 where it is suppose to run, but how far over the middle mark is that and is that normal? Thank you and look forward to hearing some advise from everyone, have a good day.

i believe 280 is the overheating mark on temp guages, so that sounds like its about in the middle...i woudlnt worry about it

your Temp should be in the middle. Now i beleve the thermastat(sp) should be between 190-220.