Review: Cooler Master ControlPad Gateron Red, 1st Impressions

Price

Picked this up a couple weeks ago for about $100 (CAD) in June-ish 2021. Full price was listed as $130 on Amazon.ca but that seemed a bit steep even though I'd paid $100 for a non-programmable mechanical keyboard or two -- I was ready to spend $150 on a compact Ducky keyboard. It dropped to just under $100 and I jumped on it.

Shipping

I missed the part on the product page where I was supposed to request a box... It got shipped with no additional packaging with a shipping label slapped on one side. For a $100 item to go through the shipping system with no protection, I was ready to send it back but the box was in okay shape and nothing seemed broken.

Planned Usage

It was purchased for productivity purposes only and to be paired with AutoHotkey. I just wanted something the size of a numpad that custom keys could be assigned to and any fine-tuning would be done via AutoHotkey. Specifically, custom keys like Shift/Alt/Ctrl + <key>. Something from a company I'd heard of before was a big selling point too. Unfortunately, the Ducky Pocket One no longer appeared to be available. I had tried to use a Logitech G502 mouse with F13 to F24 assigned to the buttons but it was a right-handed mouse and finding the buttons to push didn't feel natural -- maybe if I had a left-handed or ambidextrous mouse like a Logitech G903. The infinite scroll wheel was amazing compared to the G600's wheel on my actual mouse though.

Dear Diary #86: Patching Jeans without Iron-On Patches, Rice Bubbles

Dear Diary,

Jeans I'd been wearing for over five years are falling apart and I could barely keep up with the patching. So, I was in the market for denim patches but I didn't want the iron-on patches, I just wanted denim fabric. Never bought fabric from a bolt or by the foot before so I was a bit lost... Then I remembered that I could cannibalize an old pair of jeans. Then I remembered I gave them all to a thrift store. That led me to the toddler's section of one of the clothing stores I frequent: $7 for a pair of toddler jeans on sale. Iron-on denim patches were $6 for a half dozen so jackpot?

Lately, it seems like a bunch of channels on TV only show Star Wars movies, Star Trek movies, Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and Marvel movies... I like them all, just not weeks/months straight.

Dear Diary #85: Worn out index finger, Food regrets

Dear Diary,

Giving my index finger a break from mouse clicking lately. Been using my middle finger on my two-ish button Logitech G5 mouse and using my ring finger now with my new three-ish button mouse -- it's a Logitech G600 so there are many more buttons but only three-ish in the front section. The G-Shift malfunctioned for a couple minutes, so I did some googling and decided to just get rid of it since I was having trouble figuring out what keys to map to those G-shfted buttons anyway. Now, the G-shift is a second left-click -- wanted something relatively harmless since I found myself accidentally hitting it with my pinky finger often. Just hope the mouse doesn't go crazy with two left-clicks mapped to it. So far so good.

Had spicy chicken biryani for lunch. It was amazing, my nose was melting down the entire time I was eating it. Enjoyed it a lot. Then about 12 hours later something happened in the middle of the night and let's just say that I don't think I'm going to order the spicy version next time. I'll go to mild and spare some of that pain, hopefully.

Dear Diary #84: Ball Fell Out of Ballpoint Pen

Dear Diary,

Got desperate for Halls to alleviate some cold symptoms and I caved at a grocery store. It cost just under $2 for a single roll of Halls... I can usually get a bag of four rolls for $4 at pharmacies or big box stores, so that was a painful one to swallow. Even worse was the fact that I dropped one piece on the floor and had to chuck it.

Twas craving a salad with chicken and blew about $9 on one at a fast food joint. Couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it. Come to think of it, that's exactly what I've turned all of my sandwiches into given the way that I eat them -- with a fork and knife, cut off or taken apart because I don't eat with my hands anymore.

Still coughing but mostly only in one building where the air is dry as a desert. Outside and in other buildings, no problem. This one? Lung is about to come flying out.

Dear Diary #83: I hate Colds, BIOS key mashing

Dear Diary,

Oh man, went to sleep and forgot the clocks were changing forward. Expected to get up earlier than the day before and ended up awake an hour later. Not that I needed to be anywhere or to be awake at a particular time but that was annoying. But sweet, it's almost 7 pm and the sun is still kinda visible.

Great. Throat feeling like sandpaper once again, can't pinpoint where I got it from. My money's on all the people who coughed on me or very near me. Hoping it takes care of itself within a week like the last time. Ugh, and almost made it to spring too.

That cold is coming along great. Currently on day 4 or 5 and the nose has stopped clogging as badly -- the previous day was absolutely horrible. And I learned the previous day that sneezing destroys my chest muscles. They had never felt so terrible before, even after working out with weights and overdoing it. Sinuses are still messed up so it feels like I've been kicked in the head. Woke up wanting to look for a bottle of Tylenol -- I try to avoid unnecessary medication. Best of luck on tomorrow.

I don't understand how the cold I caught is essentially done -- nasal symptoms, nausea, and I've been kicked in the head feeling all gone -- yet the coughing just keeps getting worse and worse.