sub split_list {
    use integer;
    my ( $list_ref, $qty, $pad ) = @_;
    return unless ref $list_ref eq 'ARRAY';
    my @return;
    if ( !( @$list_ref % $qty ) || @_ == 2  ) {
        push @{ $return[$_ % $qty] }, $list_ref->[$_] for 0 .. $#$list_ref;

    } else {
        my $padded = $qty - @$list_ref % $qty;
        push @{ $list_ref }, ($pad) x $padded;
        push @{ $return[$_ % $qty] }, $list_ref->[$_] for 0 .. $#$list_ref;
        pop @$list_ref for 1 .. $padded;
    }
    return @return if wantarray;
    return \@return;
}