Remember those dreaded, gulag-like lines of yore at the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles, when officials implored customers to be patient because a new, improved computer system would soon simplify and speed up operations?

The DMV even shut down all its offices for a week over the summer so to ensure a smooth transition.

Well, anybody who has suffered the misfortune of having to renew a driver's license or register a car knows how well that went. The DMV’s pledge rang as true as “The check is in the mail” and other hollow promises.

The Hartford Courant reported that the average wait time at the end of September was about 98 minutes, up from 37 minutes in same period last year. Last month was not much better: 95 minutes, compared to about 31 minutes in October 2014.

At this rate a new U.S. president will be midway through his or her first term before we’re back to the old wait times, which by comparison now seem like a breeze.

For those quick to fly into a rage when their smart phone apps don’t load instantly, such long delays at the DMV are the equivalent of being cast into the ninth circle of Hell in Dante’s Inferno. They make the TSA line at the airport seem like a sunny day in the sand with a piña colada.

We’ve heard all the explanations, apologies and excuses, and at this point are not interested in finger-pointing or the blame game. All we and the beleaguered public want is to get in and out of the DMV pronto – or at least in a reasonable time.

Get the blankety-blank system fixed.