Intermittent Empty return

I'm new to Postgres. I'm trying to select data from my survey_results
table. My server is running Postgres 7.3.4. I log in as root (its
RH), then
psql database_name. Its says "Welcome..... ". I then type "SELECT *
from survey_results" and hit enter. Nothing! It just goes back to the
database_name prompt.

Its like there is no data in the table and I know its there. I can see
it in the Cold Fusion admin screen and I've seen it before in sql. \du
reflects root being a superuser.\dp survey_results says root has arwdRxt
access privileges. It just seems that 95% of time I get nothing back.
Even if I type "SELECT * from trash", It returns nothing and I can't
find any table called trash.

I've searched the list archives but haven't found any solution to my
problem.
Can anyone suggest a fix?

John