diff --git a/bgs/bgs.go b/bgs/bgs.go
index 245afe404..c3501ff41 100644
--- a/bgs/bgs.go
+++ b/bgs/bgs.go
@@ -744,6 +744,11 @@ func (bgs *BGS) handleFedEvent(ctx context.Context, host *models.PDS, env *event
 	ctx, span := otel.Tracer("bgs").Start(ctx, "handleFedEvent")
 	defer span.End()
 
+	start := time.Now()
+	defer func() {
+		eventsHandleDuration.WithLabelValues(host.Host).Observe(time.Since(start).Seconds())
+	}()
+
 	eventsReceivedCounter.WithLabelValues(host.Host).Add(1)
 
 	switch {
@@ -1222,7 +1227,7 @@ func (bgs *BGS) runRepoCompaction(ctx context.Context, lim int, dry bool) (*comp
 
 	results := make(map[models.Uid]*carstore.CompactionStats)
 	for _, r := range repos {
-		st, err := bgs.repoman.CarStore().CompactUserShards(ctx, r.Usr)
+		st, err := bgs.repoman.CarStore().CompactUserShards(context.Background(), r.Usr)
 		if err != nil {
 			log.Errorf("failed to compact shards for user %d: %s", r.Usr, err)
 			continue
diff --git a/bgs/metrics.go b/bgs/metrics.go
index b45f06b0d..97f444c48 100644
--- a/bgs/metrics.go
+++ b/bgs/metrics.go
@@ -16,6 +16,12 @@ var eventsReceivedCounter = promauto.NewCounterVec(prometheus.CounterOpts{
 	Help: "The total number of events received",
 }, []string{"pds"})
 
+var eventsHandleDuration = promauto.NewHistogramVec(prometheus.HistogramOpts{
+	Name:    "events_handle_duration",
+	Help:    "A histogram of handleFedEvent latencies",
+	Buckets: prometheus.ExponentialBuckets(0.001, 2, 15),
+}, []string{"pds"})
+
 var repoCommitsReceivedCounter = promauto.NewCounterVec(prometheus.CounterOpts{
 	Name: "repo_commits_received_counter",
 	Help: "The total number of events received",
diff --git a/carstore/bs.go b/carstore/bs.go
index 497fd3373..2adb7e3ce 100644
--- a/carstore/bs.go
+++ b/carstore/bs.go
@@ -164,13 +164,30 @@ func (uv *userView) Get(ctx context.Context, k cid.Cid) (blockformat.Block, erro
 	}
 }
 
+const prefetchThreshold = 512 << 10
+
 func (uv *userView) prefetchRead(ctx context.Context, k cid.Cid, path string, offset int64) (blockformat.Block, error) {
+	ctx, span := otel.Tracer("carstore").Start(ctx, "getLastShard")
+	defer span.End()
+
 	fi, err := os.Open(path)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 	defer fi.Close()
 
+	st, err := fi.Stat()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("stat file for prefetch: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	span.SetAttributes(attribute.Int64("shard_size", st.Size()))
+
+	if st.Size() > prefetchThreshold {
+		span.SetAttributes(attribute.Bool("no_prefetch", true))
+		return doBlockRead(fi, k, offset)
+	}
+
 	cr, err := car.NewCarReader(fi)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -203,6 +220,10 @@ func (uv *userView) singleRead(ctx context.Context, k cid.Cid, path string, offs
 	}
 	defer fi.Close()
 
+	return doBlockRead(fi, k, offset)
+}
+
+func doBlockRead(fi *os.File, k cid.Cid, offset int64) (blockformat.Block, error) {
 	seeked, err := fi.Seek(offset, io.SeekStart)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -724,7 +745,7 @@ func createBlockRefs(ctx context.Context, tx *gorm.DB, brefs []map[string]any) e
 	ctx, span := otel.Tracer("carstore").Start(ctx, "createBlockRefs")
 	defer span.End()
 
-	if err := createInBatches(ctx, tx, brefs, 1000); err != nil {
+	if err := createInBatches(ctx, tx, brefs, 2000); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
 
@@ -1008,7 +1029,7 @@ func (cs *CarStore) deleteShards(ctx context.Context, shs []*CarShard) error {
 		return outErr
 	}
 
-	chunkSize := 100
+	chunkSize := 10000
 	for i := 0; i < len(shs); i += chunkSize {
 		sl := shs[i:]
 		if len(sl) > chunkSize {
@@ -1163,6 +1184,8 @@ func (cs *CarStore) getBlockRefsForShards(ctx context.Context, shardIds []uint)
 	ctx, span := otel.Tracer("carstore").Start(ctx, "getBlockRefsForShards")
 	defer span.End()
 
+	span.SetAttributes(attribute.Int("shards", len(shardIds)))
+
 	chunkSize := 10000
 	out := make([]blockRef, 0, len(shardIds))
 	for i := 0; i < len(shardIds); i += chunkSize {
@@ -1179,6 +1202,8 @@ func (cs *CarStore) getBlockRefsForShards(ctx context.Context, shardIds []uint)
 		out = append(out, brefs...)
 	}
 
+	span.SetAttributes(attribute.Int("refs", len(out)))
+
 	return out, nil
 }
 
@@ -1396,7 +1421,7 @@ func (cs *CarStore) deleteStaleRefs(ctx context.Context, brefs []blockRef, stale
 		}
 	}
 
-	chunkSize := 500
+	chunkSize := 10000
 	for i := 0; i < len(staleToDelete); i += chunkSize {
 		sl := staleToDelete[i:]
 		if len(sl) > chunkSize {
diff --git a/cmd/gosky/main.go b/cmd/gosky/main.go
index 87f18bedb..30ba23edd 100644
--- a/cmd/gosky/main.go
+++ b/cmd/gosky/main.go
@@ -199,7 +199,7 @@ var postCmd = &cli.Command{
 			Repo:       auth.Did,
 			Record: &lexutil.LexiconTypeDecoder{&appbsky.FeedPost{
 				Text:      text,
-				CreatedAt: time.Now().Format(util.ISO8601),
+				CreatedAt: time.Now().UTC().Format(util.ISO8601),
 			}},
 		})
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/repomgr/repomgr.go b/repomgr/repomgr.go
index e9ffece46..1a5d07d5b 100644
--- a/repomgr/repomgr.go
+++ b/repomgr/repomgr.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/ipld/go-car"
 	cbg "github.com/whyrusleeping/cbor-gen"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/otel/attribute"
 	"gorm.io/gorm"
 )
 
@@ -490,6 +491,8 @@ func (rm *RepoManager) HandleExternalUserEvent(ctx context.Context, pdsid uint,
 	ctx, span := otel.Tracer("repoman").Start(ctx, "HandleExternalUserEvent")
 	defer span.End()
 
+	span.SetAttributes(attribute.Int64("uid", int64(uid)))
+
 	log.Infow("HandleExternalUserEvent", "pds", pdsid, "uid", uid, "since", since, "nrev", nrev)
 
 	unlock := rm.lockUser(ctx, uid)