Last night, the network was a bit congested. My swap transaction was stuck in the mempool waiting in line, watching it change from "soon" to "might have to wait for luck." Basically, it's like taking a number at the door—you get prioritized by miners/validators who prefer higher fees. If you pay less, you can only be bumped by later transactions, or if it drags on too long, the price might slip away, and you get caught in the middle. It’s pretty annoying to see pending transactions in the block explorer.

Later, I simply set up alerts and limits: only push when the price hits, and lock in slippage/maximum fee rate. Mentally, it instantly shifted from "I need to watch the market" to "let it be," since I’m not chasing that adrenaline rush anymore. Recently, fee rates have been extreme again. In the group chat, people are arguing whether to keep squeezing the bubble or not. My feeling is: the more they argue, the more likely they are to get caught up in congestion and pay more. Staying calm at least helps avoid paying extra tuition.