Temperature guage problem still

Hi, I'm still having the same problem with the temperature guage going up pretty high. It usually goes above the icon in the middle of the guage. I was at a drive thru restruant and the guage was going up slowly and eventually the fan went on. Then I held my foot on the gas at 4k rpm and the guage went back to normal. I got home and the guage was high as I was pulling in the driveway. I opened the hood all the hoses were too hot to touch except the bottom radiator hose and the radiator fan was not on at this time. Then like 30 secs later the fan came on and the bottom radiator hose got too hot to touch. Does this mean anything. This mechanic I was using before is an idiot he keeps tellin me its normal. I've never had a car or seen a car do this. Also i've been getting hard starts lately sometimes though and when it starts sometimes if will idle low for about 5 secs and shake idk if this means anything. Please help. Ty