I don't understand this explain output

Hi,

I am looking at a very simple query (select * from queue),
which takes forever to finish. I don't understand the output that
explain tells me:

m=# explain select * from queue;
QUERY PLAN
------------------------------------------------------------
Seq Scan on queue (cost=0.00..635477.00 rows=1 width=402)
(1 row)

The cost seems to be very high. It's a small table (only 23 rows)
and has not seen many modifications since the table was initially
filled. OTOH many individual records are updated every minute.

If I look at anopther table in the same database:

m=# explain select * from contact;
QUERY PLAN
-------------------------------------------------------------
Seq Scan on contact (cost=0.00..183.14 rows=614 width=411)
(1 row)

and this query finishes very quickly (614 rows).

Why would a simple query be so very costly?

Thanks,
Ron Arts

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