*really* simple select doesn't use indices ...

First, this is still a v7.1 system ... its totally possible that this is
long fixed, and I'm way overdue to get it to v7.1.2, which I'll gladly
accept as a response ...

That said ... seems like a very painful way to arrive at 1 row ... :)

table structure:

globalmatch=# \d locations                             Table "locations"Attribute |  Type   |
Modifier
-----------+---------+--------------------------------------------------------gid       | integer | not null default
nextval('locationstmp_gid_seq'::text)city     | text    |state     | text    |country   | text    |zip       | text
|location | point   |
 
Indices: locations_zip,        locationstmp_gid_key

globalmatch=# \d locations_zip
Index "locations_zip"Attribute | Type
-----------+------zip       | text
btree

globalmatch=# EXPLAIN SELECT count(location) from locations WHERE zip = '80012';
NOTICE:  QUERY PLAN:

Aggregate  (cost=2950.18..2950.18 rows=1 width=16) ->  Seq Scan on locations  (cost=0.00..2939.64 rows=4217 width=16)

EXPLAIN

globalmatch=# SELECT count(location) from locations WHERE zip = '80012';count
-------    1
(1 row)

globalmatch=# SELECT count(location) from locations;count
--------123571
(1 row)