Everyones body temp is different so what is normal for one person is not normal for another. The temp of 98.6 being normal just means that if they took 200 subjects and checked their temp the average of those would be 98.6. Low grade temp is usually anything over 100.0 although something like 99.5 or higher does indicate a slight temp. Many people have a slightly higher temp in the late afternoon. They are not sure why this happens but it often does. For some people their normal temp is 96.8 or in the 97's and for some normal is in the 99's. To find out what your normal temp is you would have to check it at the same time every day for about a week or more. Also when checking your temp orally do not eat or drink anything hot or cold for at least 5 minutes before checking it or the results will not be accurate. When using an ear thermometer you need to be sure to pull the pinnea (top of the ear) up and back to help straighten out the ear canal so the sound wave can bounce off the ear drum for accurate results. Also if there is a lot of wax or other ear problems you may not get accurate results since it can't bounce off the ear drum.