For me, it was the nosepad on my glasses.

That was the last straw for me.

Sure, I was cold and tired and frustrated in the wake of the storm. I was concerned for my family and my looking to find a place for my wife and little girl with steady power. 

My phone wasn't working, my official's e-mails were down and I was struggling to get the information out to the public while running on fumes myself. But I was ok with all of that.

Until the nosepad on my glasses vanished.

I had worked the weekend shift before Hurricane Sandy struck, so I had been running on adrenaline and worry for several days. In fact, until my family was somewhere safe and warm I don't think I took a full breath without worry. But none of that pushed me over the edge.

The sound of the tree splitting, bouncing off my house and scraping along the side of my car didn't push me over either.

Until the bare metal on the bridge of my glasses dug into my nose.

For whatever reason, that was the thing I couldn't brush off.

And as I wrapped a piece of tape on the scar-causing jagged poker where the cushiony nosepad once was, I lamented to the world my rotten luck.

And by world I mean my cat, because I was alone in my house as my family had already left for safe haven.

Odie was unimpressed.

Over the next few days as communication continued to be an issue and we faced the zombie apocalypse over gas (never thought I would be pumping gas on a wind swept side street in Portland, PA in the middle of the night) and as the weather turned colder people's tempers ran hotter and hotter.

Lines for gas, lines for food sprouted up and it seemed at some points like our civilization was about to crumble. So I asked our friends on the Mendham-Chester Facebook page what was the last straw for them?

SIDENOTE: Have you "Liked" the Mendham-Chester Patch Facebook page yet? If you haven't, wow that is hurtful. And beyond that it allows our hyperlocal content to pop up right in your news feed! Really came in handy during the disaster we all faced.

Same with our newsletter. Alerts sent straight to your inbox! Sign up. Do it. All the cool kids are.

But I digress.

Like I said, I asked our Facebook friends for their answers and the results were varied.

Susan Nagel-Rees wrote that the gas issue was a real problem for her and Dianne Ackermann said laundry topped her list of worries.

Beth Lieberman Mund couldn't believe the length of time her preschooler was kept home from class and Linda Lichtman was disheartned by throwing out everything in her freezer.

Maria Ciranni said she didn't think the question was phrased right. 

"One straw? it was more like a bale of hay," Ciranni said.

For her part, Bea Prentiss had enough of people telling her "it could be worse".

"For me at this moment, it is as bad as I can handle," Prentiss said.

But some of our readers resisted the urge to collapse into a puddle of woe.

"Actually, as annoying as power outages and gas lines are, I feel so fortunate compared to others who have lost so much. Therefore, I am resisting getting to the 'straw that broke the camel's back' moment," said Louise Elsholz. "Taking a moment to just breathe and reflect helps."

Well, Louise is very sensible.

How about you? Did you avoid that moment of collapse? Or did you give in? And what was that last little thing that pushed you over the edge. Let us know below in the comments.

Oh, and for the record, my nosepad was repaired before my power was.

Thanks for reading, commenting, and coming to us when we were all in the dark. I hope you'll stick around now that the emergency has passed.