I'm glad for that, JOG. All my style manuals (I count 14 of them here on my shelf) show the old way. They - and I - are old as well.
It seems to me that the conventions vary from field to field as well. Your background in aviation could promote 8's, and mine in chemistry could promote 8s.
I agree about the Oxford comma being necessary. Jack, Jill, Dick, and Jane is a different story than Jack, Jill, Dick and Jane.
