My sweet kitties!  Astro was left at Ingles (where I worked at the time, in 1994) in a box with a dead rat.  Her left ear had been cut off with a pair of scissors.  She was just a baby and I took her in and cared for my new one-eared kitty.  Her official name: Astro Flamebutt Wigger Van Gogh Glenn Howing.  Long story there.  Not too long after that, an adorable cute little fluff ball appeared under the porch.  He had been sneaking into my dog Max's yard to steal his food.  Long story short--we adopted him, named him Breyer, and loved him very much.  Poor college kid that I was at the time, I put off getting Astro spayed, and oops she got preggers by Breyer.  Hence Ripkin, Pipkin, and Nod.  Milo is either Ripkin or Pipkin, I'm not sure which, but that doesn't matter because Milo is a much cooler name : )