I need to use a proxy for work. So, I am used to using putty for windows... I tried that, and while I can connect to the server, firefox doesn't recognize it. (yes, I already changed the proxy settings in firefox)

If I use a terminal and do the whole ssh -D 1088 -p 80 myname@ipaddy.com it connects and firefox recognizes it...

Here's the problem:
1) It times out. If I'm inactive for a couple of minutes it dies. Putty has a refresh setting but I don't know how to do that in the terminal.
2) I don't want to open a terminal up every time I need to get online and type all that jargon (including my password which pops up after I type that).

Tips?