Printing, technology difficulty level 1? Really? REALLY?

There has been one constant in all my years after graduating from college. Printers never just work - especially on a network. One time, before I knew much about technology and upgrades, our IT department upgraded the accounting software. They forgot that accountants print stuff. A lot of stuff. Accounting is a one-industry climate wrecking machine. We destroy forests because we cannot stand not being able to tick a number with a red pen on paper. They fixed the problem, but we almost had to hire a psychologist to deal with the fallout in our office.

I work from home now. My network is pretty basic. Actually, given my level of technology expertise, it's a miracle I can see my Mac mini from my Macbook and from my very old Windows laptop. I really think it's the simplicity of the Mac environment that has made this possible. Stuff just works. I even hooked up my Apple TV without any problem. Enter the WiFi-enabled printer. Should just work, right? Well, at first, it did. Actually, for several years, it just worked. Everything connected. It was always there. No issues other than eating ink, but that's probably my fault. 

Yesterday, my internet connection goes down - the WiFi is still active - I can see the Mac Mini from the Macbook. But not the printer. Temperamental little shit. Internet comes back and now the printer won't find my router. It's 3 flippin' feet away from the router and all it would find was my neighbor's WiFi. I was beyond annoyed. The proper sequence is as follows: 

1. router off
2. printer off
3. router on
4. printer on
5. printer off
6. router off
7. router on
8. printer on
9. printer off
10. walk away
11. printer on
12. cuss
13. printer off
14. eat dinner
15. hit printer
16. threaten it with replacement
17. printer on
18. Print before it changes its mind