  A one band Hubbard model with intermediate coupling is shown to describe the
two most important unusual features of a normal state: linear resistivity
strange metal and the pseudogap. Both the spectroscopic and transport
properties of the cuprates are considered on the same footing by employing a
relatively simple postgaussian approximation valid for the intermediate
couplings $U/t=1.5-4$ in relevant temperatures $T>100{\rm K}.$ In the doping
range $\ p=0.1-0.3$, the value of $U$ is smaller than that in the parent
material. For a smaller doping, especially in the Mott insulator phase, the
coupling is large compared to the effective tight binding scale and a different
method is required. This scenario provides an alternative to the paradigm that
the coupling should be strong, say $U/t>6$, in order to describe the strange
metal. We argue that to obtain phenomenologically acceptable underdoped normal
state characteristics like $T^{\ast }$, pseudogap values, and spectral weight
distribution, a large value of $U$ is detrimental. Surprisingly the resistivity
in the above temperature range is linear $\rho =\rho_{0}+\alpha \frac{m^{\ast
}}{e^{2}n\hbar }T$ with the "Planckian" coefficient $\alpha $ of order one.
