SMOOTH EXIT: County officials are planning to...

SMOOTH EXIT: County officials are planning to make it at least a little bit easier to get out of John Wayne Airport. Plans are to install two new exit booths--one in each short-term lot. The problem, county staffers say, is those state-of-the-art parking garages get jammed during the peak hours, causing unexpectedly long traffic delays. . . . A bonus: Also planned is a weather shelter for pedestrians at the taxi stand.

CASUAL EXCUSES: Roger Johnson, Washington-bound as President Clinton’s new head of the federal General Services Administration, shocked co-workers on his final day last week as chief executive at Western Digital Corp. in Irvine with no tie. . . . “I had packed up everything and didn’t have a tie to wear,” he explains. “If I’d had a tuxedo I would have worn that.” Taking over as chairman and CEO at Western Digital today is former IBM exec Charles Haggerty (D1).

RIGHTEOUS CAUSE: No doubt Bobby Hatfield of Newport Beach is always going to be known first as one of the Righteous Brothers. But close friends know Hatfield as a leader in the fight against lupus, an immune system disease his wife Linda has battled for years. Last year he raised $40,000 for the Lupus Foundation at a golf outing. The fund-raiser is back Monday, at the Los Coyotes Country Club. A bonus this year: an evening rock show featuring . . . who else, the Righteous Brothers.

TV ZOMBIES: What’s a good birthday present for a couch potato? Albert Harris of Irvine got a TV Guide subscription from his wife. Harris, 41, explains: “I have TVs in every room plus three VCRs, Nintendo, Sega. I’ve worn out some couches along the way.” . . . He’ll get a chance to prove his credentials: He’s using vacation time to be one of two finalists in the couch potato contest at the Orange County Fair, which starts Friday. Visitors will gawk at the two contestants as they waste away more than two weeks of watching TV, then judge the winner. Top prize: $1,500 cash.