SE is trying to spread the player population out evenly through all their servers. So, it uses a rather outlandish system to do this.

This is the full list of server reset times.

At those times, the system automatically checks how many players are online. If there is over a certain amount of active players, it closes off registration on that server. Essentially, the best times to create a new character is at 11pm PST or 4am PST, probably on a weekday. It's tough, but that's the fastest way to get your GF in the same server.